ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060054
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A Floyd County man faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a September traffic collision that killed a Rocky Mount man.
Norman Wayne Swartz Sr., 53, died Sept. 30 when his vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle. He was a retired plant manager for Bristol Manufacturers.
Brian Wesley Perkins, 20, of Route 3, Floyd, was indicted Friday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, driving on a suspended license and possessing alcohol underage.
The indictments were among 78 returned by a Floyd County grand jury.
Other indictments handed down by the grand jury included:
Six indictments charging David Joel Hall with the June slaying of his 18-year-old girlfriend. Along with the charge of murder, Hall, 33, was charged with abduction, using a firearm to commit abduction, possessing a gun after being convicted of a felony, unauthorized use of a vehicle and being a habitual offender.
Ellen Marjorie Plocki, who was from Austinville in Carroll County, had lived with Hall at a garage in the Willis section of Floyd County for less than six months.
Police went to the garage expecting to find a man barricaded in the building and a woman badly beaten. Instead, they said, they found Plocki rolled up in a blanket on top of a mattress of a makeshift bed. She died of a blood clot caused by blunt-force injuries, according to a medical examiner. The abduction and related firearms charges involve allegations that Hall forced a friend, Cecil Wayne Brown, to look at Plocki's body, holding a gun on him and threatening him if he told anyone.
Brown testified in an October preliminary hearing that Hall let him leave when he promised silence. But Brown went home, called his mother to tell her about the incident and she called police.
Hall's trial is set for Jan. 16 in Floyd County Circuit Court.
Two indictments charging Virginia Denise Lomax, 42, in the August shooting death of Daniel W. McPeak.
Lomax was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and using a firearm to commit murder.
Lomax told authorities after the Aug. 4 shooting that her pistol accidentally discharged when McPeak swung a plastic bag of clothing at her. Authorities believe the shooting was deliberate.
About 20 indictments charging several people with possessing or distributing marijuana, cocaine or psychedelic mushrooms.
Commonwealth's Attorney Gino Williams said the indictments are the result of a joint investigation of the Virginia State Police and the county Sheriff's Office.
The indictments were sought after about eight months of work by the investigators.
Williams said those indicted were mostly "mid-level dealers" in various sections of the county. The drugs involved primarily marijuana but also cocaine and psilocybin - or psychedelic mushrooms.
Most of the indictments are felony charges for distributing drugs or possessing cocaine.
"I think it's coming in and being sold here and from where I do not know," Williams said.
Williams and authorities have known there was a drug problem for some time, but a comprehensive investigation had previously been difficult because of a lack of manpower. Unlike many surrounding counties, Floyd County does not belong to a drug task force.
Sheriff Tom Higgins asked state police for the assistance, Williams said.
The indictments were to remain sealed until charges could be served on the suspects.
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