THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701050103
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 27 lines
A Nissan car dealership owner under fire for using a racial slur to describe an employee has sold his business in Portsmouth.
Nissan Motor Corp. was taking steps to strip Robert Crumpler of his franchises in Portsmouth and Newport News.
Because the Portsmouth dealership is under new ownership, Nissan will no longer try to sever ties with it, said Nissan spokesman Ed Lewis.
The sale had apparently been in the works before Crumpler's comments came to light. The dealership, now Bill Lewis First Team Nissan, is owned by Ashton Lewis.
Nissan moved to yank Crumpler's franchise after he was secretly videotaped using a racial slur to describe a worker.
Nissan called Crumpler's statements ``reprehensible'' and said he had damaged the automaker's image. Crumpler apologized in a videotaped statement.
Nissan notified Crumpler in mid-December that it would terminate his franchise in 90 days. Under state law, he could ask for a hearing from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Nissan has not yet received a response from Crumpler, Lewis said.