Sunday, October 12, 2008
Salem police seek driver in fatal hit-and-run
The incident in a parking lot apparently followed an argument, police said.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
A man was struck and killed early Saturday morning by a vehicle in the parking lot of Awful Arthur's restaurant in Salem.
A man died after being struck by a Jeep outside a Salem restaurant early Saturday morning, and police are looking for the driver.
Zane Andrew Blankenship, 23, of Salem, was hit shortly after 2 a.m. in the parking lot of the Awful Arthur's Seafood Company on West Main Street and was later pronounced dead at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, according to Salem police.
About an hour later, a Virginia State Police trooper found the suspect vehicle, a dark green 1993 Jeep, abandoned on Wildwood Road in Roanoke County, about two and a half miles from the restaurant.
Salem police are looking for Shaun Wallace Scott, 26, of Roanoke, who they believe was behind the wheel of the Jeep. Scott has been charged with eight felony counts, including one for first-degree murder, two for attempted malicious wounding and four for felony hit-and-run. He is described as a white man, 5-feet-11-inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes, last seen wearing a dark-striped polo shirt and khaki pants or shorts.
Zane Andrew Blankenship
Photo courtesy of Krislyn Lane
Salem Police Department Lt. Mike Green said there had been an altercation inside the restaurant about 2 a.m. that prompted the restaurant to start moving patrons outside. A separate argument apparently started outside the restaurant between Blankenship and Scott, Green said. The restaurant then called police.
About the same time, a Salem officer noticed a crowd outside Awful Arthur's and pulled into the lot. He saw the Jeep pull out of a parking space and accelerate through the lot, striking Blankenship.
The Jeep also struck the officer's car, grazed a pedestrian and scraped a green Isuzu before climbing over a grassy curb and turning west on West Main Street, according to police and witnesses. In the process, the Jeep lost its front bumper. Neither the pedestrian nor the officer was hurt.
Police spent Saturday interviewing "a ton of witnesses" who were at the restaurant and saw the events unfold, Green said.
Shaun Wallace Scott
News release
Krislyn Lane, who works at Awful Arthur's, had gotten off her shift at the restaurant a few hours earlier. The restaurant had been particularly busy because a tattoo parlor was offering a promotion, she said.
She and her boyfriend, who is Blankenship's brother, went to get something to eat before going home, she said.
When they got a phone call later, they rushed back to the restaurant, and her boyfriend, a trained EMT, performed first aid on his brother until an ambulance arrived.
"His shoe was way down there," she said Saturday morning, standing outside the restaurant and pointing to a spot down the pavement, her eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
Her car was still where she had parked it in a hurry. The Isuzu with the scraped left side had also not been moved. The pavement was still wet from washing away the blood. The restaurant was open, but business was slow.
Awful Arthur's shares the parking lot with a hamburger restaurant, a video store and other businesses on West Main Street, a main artery in Salem that is filled with shopping centers, restaurants and other businesses.
Jeff Chaney, who works at the Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant next door, said Awful Arthur's gets "fairly crowded" in the evenings. The parking lot is not well-lit at night, and Five Guys employees usually don't take out the night's garbage until the next morning, he said.
Lane said that Blankenship turned 23 this summer. He worked at a steel mill, and loved motorcycles and spending time with his family, she said.
"He's good people," said Brent Crotts, who grew up with Blankenship in the Bradshaw area.
"I hope they catch this guy that hit him," he said. "It's just sad to see this happen to a good family."
Crotts has spent time at the Awful Arthur's restaurant and said the place is "pretty good about cutting people off" who have had too much to drink.
"They definitely hold a good respectable scene," he said. "That's why I'm astonished it happened."
Saturday's incident represents the second murder charge filed in Salem so far this year. The city had previously not seen a murder charge in a decade.
Salem police are asking anyone with information about Scott's whereabouts to call 375-3083 or 344-8500.
