ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
Masked robbers broke into a house Sunday, held the residents at gunpoint and stole money - the third such incident in Northwest Roanoke in a week. No one was injured.
There are similarities between the three incidents and at least two others that occurred in November in Southeast and Southwest Roanoke, according to Major J.L. Viar of the Roanoke Police Department.
The most recent break-in occurred about 10 p.m. Sunday in the 3700 block of Signal Hill Avenue. Police said Paula Ward, 48, heard a loud noise and went to investigate. Ward told police she saw five men, each holding a handgun and dressed in black. Four of the men wore ski masks, and one wore a hockey mask.
The men made Ward lie on the floor and forced two other residents into a bathroom.
The suspects took a safe and took money from one of the victims, police said. They fled in an unknown direction.
The incident is similar to two that occurred Feb. 19, when two robbers brandishing handguns and wearing ski masks and dark clothing broke into an apartment in the 5200 block of King Arthur Court. They took money from one of the residents.
Less than two hours later, three men holding guns and wearing ski masks and dark clothing broke into a house in the 1500 block of Lafayette Boulevard. The men shot one of the residents, Alvin L. Wilson, 48, after he told them he didn't have any money.
Last November, three men wearing ski masks forced their way into a house in the 600 block of Day Avenue Southwest, pistol-whipped the resident and ransacked the house. The resident escaped out a window.
Three hours later that night, four masked men broke into a Southeast Roanoke home in the 1100 block of Morton Avenue. The men pistol-whipped one of the residents and held a toddler at gunpoint.
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