NN POLICE CRACK COUNTERFEIT RING
NEWPORT NEWS – Newport News police said they cracked a small counterfeit ring involving phony state inspection stickers and city decals with the arrest of a shipyard worker.
Raymond Perez, 28, of the first block of Colony Road in Newport News, was charged with possession of a counterfeit inspection sticker and altering a state license tag in connection with creating a fake inspection sticker and 1992 license plate decal, Officer Robert Whitehead said Thursday.
In addition, Perez was charged with three counts of forgery, a felony, after police linked Perez to three city decals that were found to be a fraud.
Whitehead said the investigation began in late November when he stopped Perez in a 1982 Pontiac at Warwick and Bland boulevards for faulty equipment.
The officer noted several other equipment violations, yet the windshield displayed an inspection sticker that appeared valid. Whitehead determined that the city decal and 1992 license plate sticker also were counterfeit.
Perez was released on $15,000 bond.
MAN CONVICTED IN NN ROBBERY
NEWPORT NEWS – A Newport News man accused of holding up a Denbigh gas station Nov. 20 has been convicted of robbery and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Lawrence Felder, 37, was found guilty of the charges by Circuit Judge Robert W. Curran following a trial Wednesday.
Sentencing has been scheduled for April 20.
DENBIGH HOME DAMAGED IN FIRE
NEWPORT NEWS – An electrical short started a fire that caused $25,000 damage to a Denbigh home Thursday morning.
A resident, Mrs. Robert Saunders, was drying clothes in the garage when an extension cord connected to the dryer shorted out, said Fire Department spokeswoman Lynn James.
Firefighters responded to the call at 10:36 a.m. and spent 45 minutes extinguishing the fire, James said. The garage was heavily damaged by flames while most of the house was damaged by smoke, she said.
The Saunders were staying with friends Thursday. James said the couple should eventually be able to move back into the house, which was temporarily condemned.
MAN EXTRADITED IN JCC ROBBERY
JAMES CITY (COUNTRY) – One of two men charged with terrorizing a family in the Woodland Farms subdivision on Halloween was returned to the county from Milwaukee late Wednesday.
Mark Terry, 22, did not fight extradition from Milwaukee, said James City County Investigator Bill Gibbs. He was arrested in Iowa in November but released 25 days later because of confusion between Iowa and Virginia officials over the deadline for filing extradition paperwork.
(Terry, charged with robbery, abduction and use of a firearm, is being held in Williamsburg-James City County Jail in lieu of $10,000, said Gibbs.
Terry and William Donnelly are charged in the incident. Police said the men were armed when they forced their way into the house and robbed the family.)
NAVY FACILITIES TO MERGE SOONER
NORFOLK – The Norfolk Naval Supply Center, which has a branch at Cheatham Annex near Williamsburg, will consolidate with the Defense Logistics Agency on March 16, Navy officials announced Thursday.
The consolidation, originally scheduled for next year, was accelerated to save money sooner, the Navy said.
About 1,220 of the supply center’s 2,800 employees will transfer from Navy employ to the Defense Logistics Agency.
The consolidation is designed to reduce overhead for Defense Department supply distribution and to use warehouse space more efficiently, officials said.
POLICE SEEKING 2 MEN IN MURDER
HAMPTON – Hampton police are seeking two men accused of killing a 19-year-old Newport News woman at the Hampton Harbor apartments Feb. 26 .
Christopher Hall, 20, is 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 155 pounds. Police have warrants charging him with murder and using a gun in a crime.
Hampton police also have a warrant for Marsallo Neil Williams, 23, 5 feet 11 inches tall and a medium build. Williams is an alleged accomplice in the Feb. 26 slaying and faces a charge of accessory after the fact of murder.
Detectives also are asking for help in solving the March 2 murder at the Red Roof Inn on Coliseum Drive. Darrell Mason, 19, a Hampton resident, was found inside a room with a bullet wound in his head.
Police ask anyone with information about Mason’s death or the suspects in the earlier murder to call Crime Line at 722-9800. Crime-solving tips could result in a reward of up to $1,000.
(NEW POINT HOUSE DESTROYED IN FIRE)
MATHEWS – Arson investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a house on Route 602 at New Point early Thursday, said Mathews Fire Chief Ricky Tomlinson.
The frame house was recently purchased by Billy Cook Sr., who was planning to remodel it, and it was not occupied, said Tomlinson. He estimated the damage at about $50,000.
The fire, which apparently started in the kitchen, was reported about 1:50 a.m. Volunteer firefighters from Mathews Court House and New Point brought the blaze under control in about 15 minutes and finished mopping up about 4 a.m., he said.
IW OKS PERMIT FOR GOLF PROJECT
ISLE OF WIGHT – A special use permit for a golf driving range, learning center and pro shop off Route 17 in Carrollton was unanimously approved by the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors Thursday.
Golf professional Robert L. Sutter Jr. said he hopes to open the operation around May 1.
Also Thursday, supervisors amended the county’s zoning ordinance to allow home occupations in all zones that allow residences. Home occupations previously had been allowed in three of the seven zones.
Supervisors directed County Administrator Myles E. Standish to work with a committee of the Planning Commission to draft a capital improvement plan.)
