ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996                TAG: 9601090020
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN 

RADFORD MAN CHARGED IN PURSE SNATCHING

Radford police arrested a 32-year-old man Friday afternoon in connection with an earlier purse snatching.

Raymond Seay Smith of Sanford Street in Radford was charged with strong-arm robbery.

A 55-year-old Draper woman told police a man approached her in the parking lot of the Tea Garden Restaurant on Norwood Street, started a conversation with her, then grabbed her purse from her shoulder. She said he fled in a vehicle.

Police used witness and victim descriptions of the suspect and the vehicle to make the arrest in an apartment complex shortly after the incident.

All of the woman's belongings were recovered except a small amount of money.

Smith was being held in Radford City Jail on Saturday on $2,500 bond. His arraignment was set for Monday.

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