A Henrico County man is facing a Dec. 8 court appearance after his arrest on a bank robbery charge last week. A search warrant indicates that Henrico police were able to track Stefan R. Etz, 47, to his home in the 8500 block of Weldon Drive about six blocks from the bank because of a telltale description from witnesses. They told police that the robbery Friday at 1 p.m. was carried out by a man who fled on an orange-and-white motor scooter with a Jesus sticker, who was about 5-foot-4 and who had a bushy beard.

Two Highland Springs men face sentencing in January after pleading guilty yesterday to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Wazira Harris. Harris, an 18-year-old senior at Highland Springs High School, died of a bullet to the back April 27 after a large group of youths started fighting and shooting in the 300 block of East Beal Street a few blocks from the high school.

Three victims of a Highland Springs fire early yesterday morning died accidentally from smoke inhalation, according to the state medical examiner’s office. The investigation of the fire at 14 Battery Ave. is continuing and the cause of the fire remains undetermined, according to Capt. Chris Buehren. Authorities identified the victims as Latasha N. Davis, 28, Jasmine Whisnant, 8, and Jamie L. Whisnant Jr., 3.

When I introduced the Urban Oasis series at the beginning of this year, the goal was to find patches of overlooked wilderness in the Richmond area. There are a surprising number of them - green spaces such as Williams Island, Powhite Park and Tuckahoe Creek that are often missed, even by outdoors lovers. But as I’ve searched the area for these places, what’s surprised me most are not the places that, through quirks of geography, are hidden away or off the beaten path. More surprising has been the number of places hidden in plain sight.

A murder defendant’s changing story to police managed to place him at the scene of a drive-by shooting and narrow the number of unsolved cases in one of the region’s most crime-ridden areas. A Henrico County jury Thursday night returned a first-degree murder conviction and recommended a life sentence for Lamar D. Jordan, 26. Jordan, of no fixed address but familiar to law-enforcement officers because of his red Acura sedan, told police that the gunfire that killed 21-year-old Rayvell B. Fitzgerald on Nov. 7 in the Essex Village apartment complex likely was meant for him.

A Henrico juvenile and domestic relations judge ruled that Nicholas Moore, now 17, will stand trial as an adult in a case stemming from a lunchtime, playground shooting at Virginia Randolph Community High School.

A veteran hospital system employee and manager will serve almost as much time in jail as she did embezzling from the Bon Secours Richmond Health System. Jeanne Miles Martin, 42, who had risen in 19 years of work to manager of the system’s patient account refund department, was taken from a Henrico Circuit courtroom yesterday in handcuffs to serve a six-month jail sentence.

A man pursued in a high-speed chase by Richmond police Monday had been charged in July with his fifth offense of driving without a license and reckless driving, court records show. Meanwhile, Richmond police spokeswoman Karla E. Peters declined Tuesday to say whether the pursuit in heavy traffic along Nine Mile Road in Henrico County was justified or is under investigation.

A burglary ring that recruited juveniles and preyed on well-to-do, quiet neighborhoods in Hanover and Henrico counties has run its course. A Henrico judge sentenced the leader of the loosely knit operation to two years in prison Tuesday after hearing Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nikki Clarke describe how that leader looted and broke into the home of a vacationing school friend.

Two shooting victims pointed out Lawrence Davon Williams in a Henrico County courtroom yesterday as the person who opened fire on them a year ago. The courtroom identifications were enough to bring convictions in a case where little other evidence emerged to explain why Williams, 16 at the time of the shootings, felt compelled to fire at Rashawn Tyler and Kyron Benjamin.

A Richmond woman sentenced to two months in jail and convicted of felony child neglect this month has been released pending an appeal. Sharon Breeden Wood, 37, of the 300 block of Clovelly Road in Windsor Farms, agreed as part of her bail not to drive and to not consume alcohol or take unprescribed medicines, her lawyer said yesterday.

A runaway killer arrested by State Police last year told a Henrico judge this week that he killed his live-in girlfriend in a jealous rage. But the wounds suffered by 22-year-old Melissa Jamerson spoke to more brutal violence. Jamerson’s body was discovered Nov. 2 in an upstairs bedroom of the couple’s apartment at 9001 Patterson Ave. after State Police arrested Justin L. Rice, now 23, near Interstate 64 in Goochland County.

Henrico County police today released drawings of a facial reconstruction in hopes of solving a homicide that occurred more than 18 years ago.

A courtroom full of supporters and her lawyer’s plea that a Richmond woman be punished with community service didn’t sway a Henrico judge yesterday. Sharon B. Wood, 37, of the 300 block of Clovelly Road in Windsor Farms was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. Wood was found guilty of child neglect and driving under the influence charges in April, following her arrest a year ago at Libbie Place shopping center. Two of her children, 2 and 5, were located in a rear seat. Police said she berated arresting officers.

A Henrico mother and her daughter are facing a preliminary hearing next month on felony child endangerment charges in connection with a Broad Street automobile collision.