
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994                    TAG: 9406080682 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D5    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: SUFFOLK 
DATELINE: 940608                                 LENGTH: Short

UTILITY WORKER NEARLY SHOT

{LEAD} A Virginia Power employee working at the top of a utility pole Monday was nearly struck by a bullet fired from the ground, police said.

The employee, who was not identified, was in the bucket of a cherry picker truck about 2:30 p.m., cutting off electrical power to a house in the 300 block of Hollywood Avenue, police said.

{REST} The man heard the gunshot, then saw four young men running away.

The bullet was fired from a small-caliber handgun. It went through the side of the bucket and out the opening at the top, narrowly missing the man, police said.

Investigators did not know whether the shooting was prompted by the man cutting off electrical service to the house.

``He was just doing his job, minding his own business, when somebody shot at him,'' Suffolk Detective J.K. Cooke said.

Police are searching for the triggerman, described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s.

The suspect was wearing a black T-shirt and off-white shorts, was about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed about 175 pounds.

Police said he had a stocky build and close-cut hair.

{KEYWORDS} SHOOTING

by CNB