Chesterfield man charged with rape
A Chesterfield County man has been charged with abducting a woman from a Richmond restaurant last week and raping her at a house where he lives, police said.
Francisco J. Salaz-Lopez, 34, of the 3100 block of Dulwich Drive in the Falling Creek area, was arrested Friday in the Feb. 15 attack. He faces abduction and rape charges.
According to police, Salaz-Lopez forced the victim into the back seat of a car at Sabor Latino Club at 4644 Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond and drove her to his home. Police said the victim escaped and called for help.
Salez-Lopez is scheduled to appear April 11 in Chesterfield General District Court.
Richmond 19-year-old cleared in fatal shooting
Authorities have cleared a man arrested in a South Richmond shooting death last month, ruling it a justifiable homicide.
Authorities said Wednesday they will move to dismiss a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder that was filed against Robert J. Wilks, 19, of the 2700 block of Hanes Avenue.
Wilks was arrested Jan. 24 in the shooting death four days earlier of Samuel L. Johnson, 38, of the 1800 block of Blair Street. Johnson was found shot to death at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Westover Hills Boulevard.
Authorities said they have determined that Wilks was justified in the shooting of Johnson and that it was in self-defense. Johnson and another man had been trying to rob Wilks and a fourth man, authorities said.
Wilks, jailed since his arrest, had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing today in Richmond General District Court.
Richmond man sentenced to 39 years for robberies
Antonio E. Smith, 21, was sentenced to more than 39 years in prison Wednesday for his role in 11 robberies of Richmond-area gas stations, fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and grocery stores that netted more than $5,000.
Smith, of Richmond, pleaded guilty in December in federal court to four counts of robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The robberies occurred from April 30 through Aug. 5.
Louisa man sentenced in 18-year-old traffic fatality
Brandon Fields, 36, of Louisa, was found guilty of failing to stop at the scene of an accident, resulting in a one-year sentence and solving an 18-year-old traffic death of a Louisa County man.
Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty McGuire said the evidence showed that on Feb. 18, 1994, James Banks Jr. died after suffering an injury to his head on state Route 22.
In 2010, Virginia State Police trooper Richard Shively issued a press release on the case, which generated a tip that led to Fields.
Fields paid $6,000 for Banks' funeral expenses, ordered and paid for a tombstone for Banks' grave and said he will place flowers on the grave on the anniversary of Banks' death for the rest of his life, McGuire said.
From staff and wire reports
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