Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CHESAPEAKE - A Greensville Correctional Center inmate who allegedly stabbed a deputy in a Chesapeake courthouse was carrying a knife and a makeshift handcuff key, a newspaper reported.
William L. Griffin, 22, apparently used the key to open his cuffs on Oct. 31, then allegedly stabbed the deputy in the throat, officials told the Richmond Times-Dispatch for a story in Thursday's editions.
The newspaper reported that Griffin was carrying the homemade knife and key when he left the Southside prison for a probation violation hearing in Chesapeake Circuit Court.
Amy Miller, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said Corrections Department staff didn't follow proper security procedures and that the incident could have been avoided.
She said a report from an investigation into the incident is being sent to the Greensville prison warden, and he will take ``appropriate disciplinary action as necessary.''
Chesapeake Sheriff's Lt. Col. C.A. Stafford said Griffin was about to enter a holding cell at the courthouse when he allegedly stabbed Deputy Roger Rosenberry in the throat. Rosenberry then shot Griffin in the chest.
Griffin is recovering at the infirmary at the Greensville prison. Rosenberry's wound required 17 stitches. He is back at work.
Griffin is charged with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, Stafford said.
Griffin is serving 20 years for grand larceny, attempted robbery, firearm offenses and malicious wounding.
- Associated Press
Abducted woman escapes from captor
SOUTH HILL - A woman abducted in Chesterfield County escaped from her captor early Thursday, and police launched a search for the man, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Lawrence Clary said.
Clary said the man hid behind the seat of a pickup truck driven by Julia B. Smith of Hopewell after she stopped at a service station to get a soft drink about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The man forced her to drive south, driving some himself as he kept his fingers entwined in her hair to keep her from escaping. Clary said the man struck Smith several times in the face.
When the truck ran out of gas about 5 a.m. at the Bracey exit of Interstate 85, Smith jumped from the passenger side of the truck and sprinted to a motel 100 yards away. The man is believed to have fled into the woods.
Police used helicopters and dogs to look for the man, described by Clary as in his 30s with shoulder-length brown hair.
Clary said the man was armed with a revolver.
The abduction occurred near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Virginia 10, about 50 miles from the exit where Smith escaped.
- Associated Press
Worker hospitalized after roof collapses
FARMVILLE - A construction worker was hospitalized after part of a roof of a future Wal-Mart collapsed, city officials said.
Farmville Town Manager Gerald Spates said the man fell from a section of the roof about 5 p.m. Wednesday when it collapsed beneath him. Spates said the name of the man, an employee of Hensell Phelps contractors, was not immediately available.
The worker was in stable condition Wednesday night at Southside Hospital in Farmville. He was kept overnight for observation, hospital officials said.
Spates said a structural engineer would be on the scene today to determine why the roof section collapsed.
- Associated Press
by CNB