Police briefs

Date published: 5/6/2008

Men in van hold victim at knife-point

A man at Fredericksburg's Westwood Shopping Center was held at knife-point early yesterday morning.

Natatia Bledsoe, a city Police Department spokeswoman, said the victim was in the parking lot of Westwood when two men in a silver minivan approached him and almost hit him with the van.

The van then turned around and came back toward the victim. One of the passengers got out and threatened him with a knife.

The victim handed over his wallet containing $100 in cash and the men fled westbound on State Route 3.

Both of the men are described as Hispanic and the one who confronted the victim had close-cut hair and a black T-shirt, Bledsoe said.

Little Tire incident injures employee

A Little Tire employee was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital Saturday after his body was pinned under a Volvo at the shop.

The man, who has not been named, has a broken leg, broken rib and bruised lung, said David Little of Little Tire on Princess Anne Street in Fredericksburg.

Lt. Dave Morris of the Fredericksburg Fire Department said the man was treated on the scene after the department was able to lift the car and pull him out.

He was then flown to Fairfax from Old Mill Park.

Little said the man was still in the hospital yesterday, although the severity of his injuries is unknown.

Fredericksburg man robbed on riverbank

A Fredericksburg man who was sitting on a log next to the river, listening to music Friday afternoon, was ordered to the ground and robbed, said Fredericksburg Police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe.

She said the victim told police a white male approached him from behind around 2:30 p.m. Friday and yelled at him to lie on the ground and not to look at him.

The victim reported that his wallet was taken out of his back pocket and $100 was removed.

"He also heard the man going through his backpack," Bledsoe said.

A cell phone and an additional $170 were stolen from the backpack, she said.

The suspect is described as a white male in his early 30s, approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 170 pounds. He had curly white-blond hair, a scruffy beard and was wearing a blue and white striped sweater with green cargo pants, Bledsoe said.

--Ellen Biltz

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Date published: 5/6/2008