ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611040055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
A 21-year-old Northwest Roanoke man was charged with trying to set fire to a restaurant in downtown Roanoke early Friday.
Police charged Larry Irvin Hicks of the 2300 block of Tuckawanna Circle Northwest with attempted arson. He was in Roanoke City Jail Friday, with bond set at $10,000.
About 2 a.m., an employee of Corned Beef & Co. told an officer that a man was pouring gasoline from a red can on the restaurant's rear door and wall at 107 S. Jefferson St., police said. The man did not ignite the gasoline. He was seen walking to an older model car near the city bus station.
Police said they saw the man leave the bus station's parking lot, and officers pursued him for a short distance. They stopped the man on Second Street, near the Second Street Bridge, and arrested him.
Police said Hicks had been in the restaurant about 1:30 a.m., got into an argument with another customer and was asked to leave. A red gas can was found in the trunk of the car Hicks was driving, and matches were found on the front seat.
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