COUNCILMAN CONTINUES TO BLAST POLICE FOR VIOLENT MALL RAID

Councilman Paul R. Riddick , who has taken heat for some comments he
made about the recent violent drug bust outside Military Circle mall,
renewed criticism of the raid Tuesday.

Riddick spoke with reporters after a City Council meeting during which
he elaborated on his apology for a remark during a radio program that
the raid would not have occurred where "Jews" shop.

He insisted that the raid would not have taken place in "upscale
districts."

He also suggested that more police training might be needed because
several officers have been shot in recent years.

It was around 8 p.m. on June 11 at Military Circle mall when shots
rang out. Police said that after a drug deal in a nearby hotel,
undercover narcotics officers moved in on a car with three men in the
parking lot of the mall, officially known as The Gallery at Military
Circle.

Two officers and two suspects were wounded. One bloodied suspect fled
into the mall and was caught in a movie theater.

Riddick initially complained that police shouldn't have made the bust
in such a public place. Police responded that the sites of undercover
operations are often chosen by suspects and that to demand their own
locations could have aroused suspicions.

On Monday, on "HearSay with Cathy Lewis " on WHRV radio, Riddick said
police made the bust there because the mall is "90 percent
African-American."

"They would not have done it over at the Palace Shops, which are
frequented a lot by Jews, MacArthur Center or down at Lynnhaven Mall,"
he said.

He later apologized. On Tuesday, he elaborated.

"There's a friend of mine in the Jewish community . and when I found
out that this was offensive, I called this gentleman, and, as before,
we talked about different traditions and things in the Jewish
community," he said. "For that particular reason, I offered an apology
to the Jewish community as to not single them out as if I'd said
Catholics or Protestants or Episcopalians or anything like that."

Meanwhile, the police officers are recovering. One had been released
from the hospital soon after he was shot; the other was released
Sunday. Police have not revealed their identities.

One suspect, Sammie Henderson III , was released from Sentara Norfolk
General Hospital on Sunday. He was being held with no bond.

The condition of a second suspect who remains hospitalized, Artis
Carmon Jr. , has been upgraded from critical to serious, said Chris
Amos, Norfolk police spokesman.

Commonwealth's Attorney John R. Doyle III said Tuesdaythat he had
determined, based on evidence police gathered, that the use of police
force was "entirely appropriate."

Asked about that finding, Riddick expressed skepticism.

"The commonwealth's attorney said that Raymond Chandler 's death was
appropriate," he said, referring to a motorist who died in a struggle
with police after a traffic stop in 2000. A previous commonwealth's
attorney found that officers used reasonable force and declined to
charge the officers. Riddick stopped short of calling the decisions
wrong in either case.

Still, he added, "Because the commonwealth's attorney says it happens
does not validate it in my eyesight, because I've seen the
commonwealth's attorney and other agencies validate things that, in my
opinion, were wrong."

His remarks followed a session in which the council voted 4-3 to limit
hotel stays to 30 days.

The measure is intended to curb prostitution and blight in older
hotels where some people live for months on end. Homeless advocates
protested the move, saying that people could wind up on the streets.