NEWS BRIEFS
Beaufont Shopping Center welcomes two new eateries

It's out with the old and in with the new at the Beaufont Shopping Center, located across from Cloverleaf Mall. Bulldozers were busy demolishing the former Western Sizzler building late last month to make way for a new Popeye's location. A new franchisee plans to open the restaurant as his lead location by the end of the year.

An abandoned gas station next to the Western Sizzler was also razed, and the shopping center's management company is now marketing that location.

The center is also welcoming Carena's Jamaican Grill and the return of Chef Jimmy Sneed to metro Richmond. Carena's will occupy the former Friendly's Family Restaurant location and is expected to open for diners on Oct. 12.

Sneed is the former co-owner of The Frog and the Redneck in Richmond, which was once named as "one of the best new restaurants in America" by Esquire Magazine. It was also featured in Bon Appetite, USA Today, the New York Times and other publications. The Frog and the Redneck closed in 2001. Sneed was selected by Julia Childs as a featured chef in her "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" series.

New fire training center opens

The county will open its new Enon Training Center this week at 13900 Allied Rd. The facility includes nine acres of developed land with plans for expansion in 2008 and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including a burn building and training props to support realistic fire-training scenarios.

Man hospitalized after shooting

County police are searching for suspects wanted in connection with a shooting that occurred around 12:40 a.m. on Sept. 30 in the 2200 block of Marina Drive. A single Hispanic male victim was transported to VCU Medical Center by Chesterfield County Fire and Emergency Medical Services with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to call the police department at 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660

Police seek robbery suspects

Police are searching for two unidentified men who robbed the Rite Aid at 10030 Robious Rd. shortly after the store closed on Sept. 30.

Police said two employees closed the store around 6 p.m. and walked to their vehicles. Two suspects approached one employee and forced the employee back into the store at gunpoint. Once inside the store, the suspects demanded money from the safe and fled on foot through the back door.

Both suspects are black males, 30-33 years old, standing about 6 feet, 3 inches tall. One suspect is bald or has a shaved head.

Anyone with information should call the police department at 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660.

Car crashes kill two, injure others

Several vehicle crashes kept county police busy over the weekend of Sept. 29-30, leaving two individuals dead and several others critically injured.

A county man was killed on Sept. 29 after his pickup truck ran off Hull Street Road while exiting off Chippenham Parkway. According to reports, Henry C. King, 38, of the 4500 block of Cordova Lane, lost control of his truck on the on-ramp to Hull Street Road before hitting a tree and fence. The truck went airborne, landing in the 6500 block of Hull Street Road. He was discovered by another driver around 5:30 a.m. Police believe fatigue may have contributed to the crash.

The Chesterfield County Police Department is also investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed one woman. The crash occurred at the intersection of Iron Bridge Road and Country Manor Lane at 7:07 a.m. on Sept. 30. Police said a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser traveling east on Iron Bridge Road left the roadway and struck a utility pole. The driver, Tyeve T. Devane, 30, of the 15100 block of Broadwater Way, was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger was transported to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

A two-vehicle crash in the 400 block of Ruffin Mill Road on Sept. 29 at 3:12 p.m. left a passenger critically injured. According to police, a 2007 Kawasaki motorcycle traveling west on Ruffin Mill Road veered into the path of a 2008 Honda Accord traveling in the opposite lane. A passenger on the motorcycle was transported to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

In another motorcycle crash on Sept. 29, a 1998 Suzuki motorcycle traveling west on Osborne Road veered into the path of a 2007 Ford F-250 pickup traveling in the opposite lane. The motorcyclist was transported to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Police continue to investigate these four crashes.