By Mary King
Staff Writer
From the July 4, 1985 edition of The Salem Times-Register
When the Surf N Turf sporting goods store in Salem was being robed last Thursday night, a 16-year-old cross country runner and a 19-year-old gas station attendant were parked in the lot outside talking.
They had no idea a robbery was taking place inside the store or that they would end up aiding in the arrests of two men alleged to be the robbers.
In fact, Duane Smith and Robbie Guthrie were getting ready to leave the Spartan Square parking lit at about 8:30 p.m. when two men ran out of Surf and Turf followed by Patti Mater, a store employee, who yelled she had been robbed.
Smith said they did not have time to consider danger, only that Mater was as friend a that she had been robbed. “We just wanted to help get the money back,” Sith said.
Smith and Guthrie decided to chase one man who had left on foot. They drove behind Kroger and then up to Salem High School, before catching sight of a man on foot. Smith said they got out of the car and stopped long enough to get a crowbar and a jack out of the trunk of the car before pursuing the man.
Smith did not think about his cross country running coming in handy, but said he and Guthrie were confident they could catch the man.
“We knew we could overcome him,” Smith said. “We saw the guy and he looked tired.”
Smith and Guthrie chased the man a short distance before catching him. Smith said the man then stopped and tried to bribe them with part, then all of the money.
“He didn’t try to hurt us,” Smith said, “but he kept one hand in his pocket.” Both teenagers said they were concerned he might be concealing a gun, but said they had little time to worry about it.
Smith said they walked with the man a ways but then were distracted as police approached the area.
The man then threw down part of the money and ran but the teenagers weren’t able to catch up with him. Smith said he did pick up the money the man left behind.
“I’m just glad we got part of it back,” Smith said. “We knew her (Mater) and we wanted to help her.”
Smith said he is proud of being able to recover part of the $250 that was stolen. But both teenagers agree they don’t know if they would do the same thing in a similar situation. “It would just depend,” Smith said. “She (Mater) is our friend.
The Salem police arrested Troy Dean Riddle, 21, of Salem and a juvenile whose name was not released because of his age, late Friday morning after Salem detectives found them walking together in a Salem Neighborhood. The two have been charged with robbery and violence.
Lt. Russ Gwaltney of the Salem Police Department said Smith and Guthrie were extremely important in helping make the arrests.
“One of the boys (Guthrie) made a positive identification out of a picture lineup.” Gwaltney said. “His identification helped us to go ahead and obtain warrants on the men before we picked them up on Saturday.”
Gwaltney said without the assistance of the boys, the arrests would have taken a lot longer.
The police department plans to honor Guthrie and Smith with certificates of appreciation during a special meeting next week.
“You just don’t find this kind of participation from the public anymore,” Gwaltney said. “This shows you the Valley has pretty good people in it.”
Gwaltney said people have a tendency to bad mouth teenagers but that only about 10 percent of the teens deserve a bad name. “The other 90 percent go unnoticed,” he said.
Gwaltney suggests other people faced with a similar situation should follow the suspects at a safe distance and get license numbers and descriptions of the people involved. But Gwaltney was quick to add that the action these teenagers took is not something the police department generally encourages because of the danger involved.
Smith is the son of Oscar and Beulah Smith of Salem and will be a senior at Salem High School this fall. He runs on the Salem Cross Country Team and said he ahs placed in a couple of metro and district meets.
Robbie is the son of Robert and Brenda Guthrie of Roanoke County. He works for Pillis Brothers in Salem.
“It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to us,” Guthrie laughed. “It was the most exciting thing that ever happened in Salem.”
-Prepared by Shelly Koon
Photo credit:
From The Times-Register archives
