HOPEWELL - A Hopewell man charged with attempted first-degree murder of a convicted sex offender was released on bond yesterday after a hearing at General District Court. Judge Kenneth Nye allowed Daniel Ray Narron, 19, to return home to stay with his family while awaiting trial after his father posted a $10,000 secured bond.
"Your father is now in charge of you," Nye told Narron. "He's got more power over you than ever before. He can put you [back] in jail anytime he wants.
Outside the courthouse, more than a dozen friends and supporters of Narron stood in protest, holding signs demanding his release from jail.
Narron was arrested Nov. 5 and charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted aggravated malicious wounding by mob, misdemeanor hit and run and misuse of information on the Virginia State Police sex offender registry.
Police allege that on Oct. 16, Narron and three of his friends confronted and harassed a convicted sex offender, whose name was not disclosed, when he tried to enter a Hopewell convenience store. The individual left the store on a moped and police believe that Narron followed him in a 2000 Lincoln Navigator, with the three other suspects as passengers. Narron and the three men are accused of fleeing the scene after striking the victim near the intersection of Atlantic Street and Hill Avenue.
Narron's three friends - Damon J. Silvestro, 20, Eric B. Harris, 25, and Thomas W. McCall, 21 - were all arrested Sunday without incident, according to State Police. Each suspect was arraigned Monday and charged with felony attempted aggravated malicious wounding by mob and misdemeanor hit and run.
The victim, a 52-year old man from Hopewell, has been on the sex offender registry since September 2000 after two convictions of aggravated sexual battery and abduction for immoral purposes in Sussex County. In 2005, he was also convicted of failure to register as a violent sex offender.
"Everyone in Hopewell knows who he is and what he has done," said Kirk Kloske, a friend of Narron, who organized the protest in front of the courthouse. Kloske said charging his friend with misuse of information on the sex offender registry was wrong. "They say that Daniel looked him up on the Internet, but that's not true, because he already knew who he was," he said.
Kloske said that he spoke with Narron shortly after the incident. "He told me that they didn't look for him at the convenient store, they were just there to buy some food and then they got in an argument with the victim," he said.
An odd moment happened when Narron arrived at the courthouse from Riverside Regional Jail yesterday morning. Narron's attorneys reported that the victim was waiting outside and tried to approach the van in which Narron arrived.
"I don't know what that has to do with this bond hearing," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth Fields. "The victim is extremely concerned about his safety, and I advised him to stay home and to not come here today," she said.
Fields objected to Narron's release on bond. "This is a serious case, because he tried to run into the victim in his vehicle in a deliberate manner," Fields said. "We need to send a message to the community that you can't run down someone with your vehicle," she said.
But Nye wanted to give Narron a chance. "You learn in second grade to take turns in life," he said. "Everybody is getting the chance to learn." Nye agreed to release the defendant on bond after his father, Michael Narron, assured the court that his son would live with the father and work 40 hours a week for his construction company while awaiting trial. He will be monitored at home and is permitted to have contact with the victim or his co-defendants.
A trial date has not yet been set, but another hearing is scheduled for Dec. 6. ..Source.. by markus schmidt
Hopewell teen charged with harassing registered sex offender
11-8-2010 Virginia:
UPDATED 10-17-2011 Unbelievable resolve for using the registry to perform an attack on a registrant. see below...A Hopewell teen has been charged with intentionally misusing information from Virginia's Sex Offender Registry in an October incident in which police said the teen harassed, followed and then struck a registered sex offender with his vehicle.
Daniel R. Narron, 19, was arrested Friday and charged with attempted murder, attempted malicious wounding by mob, hit-and-run driving and misuse of the sex offender registry, said state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar.
Molnar said the incident occurred on the evening of Oct. 16 when the unidentified sex offender attempted to enter a local convenience store and was recognized by Narron.
Narron, accompanined by three other men, approached the victim, a man in his 50s, and began to harass him about being a sex offender, Molnar said.
At that point, the victim, also from Hopewell, drove away on his moped and Narron followed him in a 2000 Lincoln Navigator. As they approached the intersection of Atlantic Street and Hill Avenue, Narron struck the victim and then fled the scene, Molnar said.
The victim called Hopewell police, who requested that Virginia State Police investigate the case.
"From my understanding, Narron knew who this person was based information that Narron had previously obtained from the web site," Molnar said. "And he began harassing him about being a sex offender based on that information from the web site. Narron recognized him as a registered sex offender."
However, Molnar said Narron had not specifically targeted the victim before encountering him for the first time at the convenience store. Molnar said the case is only the fourth time that police have charged someone with misusing information from Virginia's Sex Offender registry, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
"The public web site is out there for the public to use for informational purposes," Molnar said. "But Narron went above and beyond that. He took the information that he received from the web site and harassed this guy based on him being a sex offender." ..Source.. by Mark Bowes | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Three more charged with attempting to harm Hopewell sex offender
11-16-2010 Virginia:
Hopewell, Va. -- Three friends of a Hopewell man charged last week with misusing information on Virginia's sex-offender registry to harass and attack a sex offender were arrested during the weekend on related charges, state police said.
Damon J. Silvestro, 20, of Colonial Heights, Eric B. Harris, 25, of Hopewell, and Thomas W. McCall, 21, also of Hopewell, were each charged with attempted aggravated malicious wounding by mob, a felony, and misdemeanor hit-and-run driving.
State police said the three men participated in an Oct. 16 incident in Hopewell that was initiated by Daniel R. Narron, 19, who is accused of harassing, following and then striking with his vehicle a Hopewell man listed on the sex-offender registry. Narron accosted the alleged victim based on information he obtained from the registry website, police said.
According to police, Narron and his three friends confronted the sex offender, a man in his 50s, outside a Hopewell convenience store after he drove up on his moped. After harassing him about being a sex offender, the man drove away on his moped, and Narron, accompanied by his three friends, followed him in a 2000 Lincoln Navigator, polic said.
As they approached Atlantic Street and Hill Avenue, Narron struck the man with his vehicle and fled the scene, police said. Narron's three friends left with him, according to police.
The man, who was not injured, called Hopewell police, who requested that Virginia State Police investigate the case. Charges were brought against all four men after consulting with the Hopewell commonwealth's attorney's office. ..Source.. by Mark Bowes | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
No new jail time in Hopewell sex offender hit-and-run case
10-17-2011 Virginia:
HOPEWELL _ A 20-year-old man accused of trying to run over a convicted sex offender as he fled on a moped entered a plea today that calls for no additional jail time, an agreement that was angrily denounced by the victim.
Daniel R. Narron of Hopewell pleaded guilty in Hopewell Circuit Court to attempted unlawful wounding, a felony, and to disorderly conduct and hit and run, both misdemeanors.
Approving the terms of the agreement, Judge Samuel E. Campbell sentenced Narron to five years for the felony and 12 months for each misdemeanor charge, but the judge suspended all of the jail time. Narron, who has spent about 11 months in jail, was expected to be released today.
Also today, three co-defendants entered pleas to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and failure to report an accident. Each was convicted and told the charges would be dismissed after one year if the defendants remain on good behavior.
Those defendants are Damon J. Silvestro of Colonial Heights and Eric B. Harris and Thomas W. McCall, both of Hopewell.
After today’s proceedings, the victim in the case, Rudolph Ellis, 54, criticized the plea agreement for Narron, saying, “I was running for my life. That young man tried to kill me. This whole thing is a joke.”
Ellis also excoriated the Hopewell Police Department, saying they refused to pursue an investigation and that officers had harassed him.
Hopewell Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Newman said after the hearing that he turned over the investigation to Virginia State Police because “the police department didn’t do anything.”
Asked if he knew why the police took no action, Newman said, “I have no idea.”
The incident occurred Oct. 16, 2010. Since then, Hopewell has hired a new police chief, John Keohane, a former high-ranking Richmond police official. The former chief, Steven D. Martin, had a contentious relationship with Newman.
A phone message left at the police department today was not immediately returned.
Ellis has testified that he was confronted at a convenience store and that, after cursing back, he left on his moped and soon found himself being chased by Narron and his three companions.
At one point, Ellis darted through some trees and behind a house in an effort to lose them, but his pursuers didn't give up, he said. As Ellis darted across Hill Avenue to get to a friend's house, he said, his moped was struck from behind and he fell to the ground uninjured. The suspects then drove away, he said.
Narron’s attorney, James Maloney, told the judge today that Narron had only been trying to scare Ellis and had not meant to strike him. He said the moped had shot out from behind a house in front of Narron’s vehicle.
“He has never been in trouble before this,” Maloney said of his client.
The attorney added that the incident represents a momentary, alcohol-fueled lapse in judgment and that Narron has taken full responsibility for his actions. by Reed Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch
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