OFFICIALS LOOK INTO TABB FIRES
YORK – Police and fire officials are investigating a string of fires in unfinished homes in the Tabb area.
The most recent fire was reported around midnight Feb. 13 in an unfinished duplex at 106 Spoon Court in the Sanctuary section of Kiln Creek. The York County Sheriff’s Office and the York County Fire Department have not determined what caused the fire but say it is ”of suspicious origin.”
Over the past three years, there have been several other fires of suspicious origin in homes under construction in the Tabb area, said sheriff’s investigator Jim Richardson.
Anyone with information about the fires can call York County Crime Line at 890-3400. Callers do not need to leave their names or testify in court, and if their information leads to an arrest, they could earn a cash reward.
HAMPTON MAN CHARGED IN SHOOTING
NEWPORT NEWS – A 26-year-old Hampton man was charged with shooting and wounding another man early Thursday, according to Newport News police reports.
Johnnie Kib Thompson of the 3600 block of Kecoughtan Road was charged with maiming in the incident that occurred at the Roadside Cafe in the 4600 block of Jefferson Avenue. The victim was shot in his left arm, the reports said.
Thompson was also charged Thursday with shooting at another man in an incident that occurred Jan. 24. In that incident, the victim was not hurt but reported that Thompson fired at him as he chased him down the street and into a building near the corner of 31st Street and Chestnut Avenue, the reports said.
Thompson was in jail on $30,000 bond.
NN WOMAN CHARGED WITH MOLESTING GIRL
NEWPORT NEWS – A 54-year-old Newport News woman was charged Thursday with sexually molesting a girl she baby sat for six years ago, according to police reports.
Martha Snyder Elias of the 200 block of Merry Oaks Drive was charged with aggravated sexual battery. The alleged incident occurred in 1988 when the child was about 4 years old, the reports said. The girl, now 10, recently reported the incident to someone at her school.
No other details were available.
After her arrest, Elias was released on her own recognizance.
MAN, 22, ROBBED INSIDE HIS CAR
NEWPORT NEWS – A 22-year-old man reported that he was robbed Wednesday outside a supermarket by a man who had been hiding in the back seat of his car, according to police reports.
The incident occurred outside the Food Lion grocery store in the 15000 block of Warwick Boulevard.
The victim said that when he got into his car, a man pointed a gun at him and then stole $190 and his watch.
No additional information was available.
MAN ARRESTED ON ADDITIONAL CHARGES
NEWPORT NEWS – A Denbigh man already facing charges of having sex with an inflatable doll in the presence of a child was arrested again Thursday on nine additional charges, according to police reports.
Norman F. Bernick, 75, of the 800 block of Lacon Drive was charged last week with taking indecent liberties with a child. Police said he had sex with the doll and then showed the child a videotape of the act.
Thursday, Bernick was charged with four additional counts of taking indecent liberties and five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the reports said.
MAN ARRESTED ON SEX ABUSE CHARGES
NEWPORT NEWS – A 31-year-old Newport News man was arrested Thursday on charges he sexually abused his 13-year-old daughter, according to police reports.
The man, who lives on Roach Avenue, was charged with aggravated sexually battery.
No additional information was available.
The following briefs ran in the South of the James edition:
POLICE ARREST WOMAN ON ABUSE CHARGES
VIRGINIA BEACH – Virginia Beach police on Friday arrested a 21-year-old woman on charges she abused her two small children by burning their hands with a cigarette lighter as punishment for playing with matches.
Tameka Mitchell, of the 5400 block of Campus Drive, was charged with two counts of felony child abuse, said police spokesman Mike Carey.
Carey said the incidents occurred in Mitchell’s home over the past two weeks.
Mitchell’s 4-year-old son was being treated for severe burns on his left hand. He was listed in fair condition at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk Friday, Carey said. The child also was beaten with a belt.
The daughter, who is 3, was treated for a burned hand and released from Sentara Minor Emergency Care Center. The child is with relatives, Carey said.
Mitchell was released from the Virginia Beach Correctional Center after posting a $2,000 bond.
POLICE: TEEN SUSPECT KILLS HIMSELF
SUFFOLK – A teen-age suspect in a gas station burglary apparently shot himself to death Friday as police attempted to search his house, according to police.
Suffolk police were entering the home through a window when they heard a shot fired inside. One officer was already halfway through the window; another officer pulled him back out.
The police surrounded the house and kept it under surveillance for two hours, the police said.
At 1:45 p.m., members of the Suffolk police special investigation unit stormed the house. Inside, they found the body of a 17-year-old boy who had apparently shot himself, according to the police. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a local medical examiner.
The boy was a suspect in the burglary of a Supreme Petroleum Station on Holland Road, police said. Inside the house, police found $900 in items from the gas station.
