Pubdate: Sun, 04 Aug 2002
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2002 Roanoke Times
Contact:  http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368
Author: Jen McCaffery, of The Roanoke Times

Former Wythe County Sheriff Supervises 52 Counties

NEW U.S. MARSHAL SO TOUGH HE EVEN STOOD UP TO THE DEAD

As Sheriff, Wayne Pike Increased Drug Busts, Modernized His Department And 
Took The Grateful Dead To Task In A Public Letter

Wayne Pike's prey over the last 20 years has included Deadheads, drug 
traffickers, coyotes, murderers and Willie Nelson.

Now the former Wythe County sheriff will supervise the capturing of 
fugitives in 52 counties as opposed to one as U.S. marshal for the Western 
District. Pike, 60, started his new job last week at the Poff Federal 
Building in Roanoke and is scheduled to be officially sworn in by Chief 
U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson on Friday.

People who have known the Fort Chiswell native over the years describe him 
as an ambitious man deeply committed to aggressive law enforcement and his 
community. He also distinguished himself as someone who made his views 
known - even when they were unpopular - and as a fan of the spotlight.

"The man lived, ate and slept law enforcement," said Danny Gordon, a 
longtime operations manager of Wytheville radio station WYVE.

In his 18 1/2 years as sheriff, Pike transformed the department, said 
Sheriff Kermit Osborne, who worked under Pike when he began his first term 
as sheriff in 1980.

Under Pike's watch, a department that had spent a lot of its time serving 
court papers, taking care of the courts and the local jail and transporting 
inmates was suddenly busting up more drug rings and policing Interstates 81 
and 77, Osborne said. And Pike - a rangy man sometimes clad in camouflage - 
was often found in the middle of the fray.

"Wayne Pike is one of those persons who leads by example," said First 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Scott.

Pike ran for sheriff as a Republican in 1979 and was re-elected four times.

In addition to earning a reputation with federal authorities as someone who 
was making lots of drug busts on the crossroads of the interstates, Pike 
also started programs to fight domestic abuse, check in on elderly people 
who lived alone and train his deputies as emergency medical technicians.

"He had a presence everywhere," Gordon said. "I don't think he ever went home."

As sheriff, Pike wasn't shy about letting people know about his law 
enforcement successes. "He liked the limelight," said former board of 
supervisors member Jack Crosswell. "Most sheriffs do."

Pike also had a talent for drumming up money to expand his law enforcement 
efforts, said Crosswell.

People in Wythe County liked their sheriff so much, he said, that they saw 
Pike's departure in 1998 to accept a position with the state parole board 
at then-Gov. Jim Gilmore's request as a defection.

"If he had stayed here, he could have been sheriff as long as he wanted," 
Gordon said.

Former Wythe County Chief Deputy Sheriff Sam Viars, who worked under both 
Pike and Osborne, described Pike as one of the most effective politicians 
he's ever met.

"He knows the right people," Viars said. "He's got a good mind. He can meet 
you one or two times and never forget your name."

Pike was one of three candidates whose name were submitted for the position 
of U.S. marshal last year by Sens. John Warner and George Allen. Roanoke's 
acting U.S. marshal Kearn Knowles and Tom Slemp, a deputy U.S. marshal who 
works in federal court in Abingdon, were also nominated. President Bush 
chose to nominate Pike in April, and the Senate Judiciary Committee 
confirmed his nomination last month.

Pike said he is deeply honored to have gotten the job and spoke highly of 
the office's staff . Besides the task of tracking down fugitives, Pike will 
also supervise the transport of federal inmates, court security officers 
who man the courts, and watch over seized assets. He is supervising about 
80 people, he said, and will make $121,600. He plans to be more aggressive 
about tracking down federal fugitives and hopes to upgrade equipment for 
the U.S. Marshals Service.

Pike was considered for the position in the early 1980s, he said, but 
decided he hadn't been sheriff long enough.

Pike had returned to Wythe County in the late 1970s to run for sheriff 
after working his way up to second in command of the homicide division at 
the High Point, N.C., police department. Before that, he served four years 
in the Air Force.

Once Pike got elected in 1979, he set about modernizing and expanding the 
department. He applied for and received grants to fund his new efforts.

"As a sheriff, I think he very much tried for higher wages and benefits for 
the officers," Osborne said. "He really wanted a better department and 
strived for that."

But Pike also came under criticism for a program he spearheaded on the 
interstate - about 100 miles of which were within his jurisdiction. Under 
his tenure, a county ordinance was passed under a state law that allows 
municipalities to make their own ordinances and adopt part of the 
Department of Motor Vehicles law. After the ordinance was enacted, Pike's 
deputies were allowed to work overtime policing the interstates, usually 
the domain of state troopers.

"Wayne's philosophy was that we were a mobile society and that criminals 
were mobile," Viars said. "We could focus on traffic violations and let 
that lead toward other things."

The revenue Pike's deputies brought back from the tickets went to the 
department and to trash collection for the county, Pike said.

"People thought he was a little overzealous" with the ticketing program, 
said Crosswell. The former board of supervisors member added that he didn't 
think tickets should be issued for the purpose of gaining revenue for the 
department.

Pike was also not afraid to air his views about people he disagreed with - 
even if they were rock stars.

In 1987, he took the Grateful Dead and some of its local fans to task in a 
letter to The Roanoke Times & World-News after dozens were arrested at a 
Roanoke Civic Center concert. Then in 1988, Pike started a letter-writing 
campaign - on department stationery, though he pointed out at the time that 
it was not the "Law's" opinion, but his own - urging local radio stations 
and citizens to boycott Willie Nelson records.

Nelson had supported American Indian activist Leonard Peltier - who was 
sentenced to two life terms for the murders of two FBI agents in South 
Dakota - at a concert and Pike, as a defender of law enforcement, took issue.

Roanoke Times columnist Brian O'Neill described Pike during the Nelson flap 
as "a politician who just flat-out told it as he saw it. That was refreshing."

"It was kind of a one-man protest," Pike said recently. He added that he 
has since made amends with Nelson after meeting him about 10 years ago at a 
concert to benefit police.

Pike also wrote an opinion piece to The Roanoke Times after the Rodney King 
case broke in Los Angeles, arguing that what happened to King was wrong, 
but added that police who are brutalized rarely receive the publicity King did.

In his new post, however, Pike said he "probably wouldn't be attacking 
Willie or the Grateful Dead." He said he would keep promoting the good that 
law enforcement does, however.

Pike also sparked controversy in Wythe County during the mid-1990s when he 
supported the construction of a local prison to bring a "nonpolluting 
industry" to an area that needed jobs. Many locals opposed it, and it never 
came to pass.

Most county residents were surprised and some were angered when Pike took a 
position on the Virginia Parole Board, Crosswell said.

Pike said recently that he had wanted to be sheriff for 20 years and 
"thought while I was doing really well, it would be a great thing to do 
something different." He commuted to Richmond for the job.

In 1999, Pike drew controversy again when he returned to Wythe County and 
ran for sheriff again. Pike's successor, Osborne, had already defeated one 
of Pike's sons, Jeff, in the Republican primary for the office. Wayne Pike 
then entered the race and was "beaten badly" by his former deputy, 
Crosswell said.

"When he came back to town again, some of his critics thought he was trying 
to set up a dynasty," Crosswell said.

The campaign was characterized by some as nasty political advertising, 
Osborne said, though he declined to elaborate on it. The election also 
sparked a federal lawsuit. Two dispatchers at the Wythe County sheriff's 
department - one of them Pike's third wife Martha - sued Osborne for 
unfairly firing them because they supported Jeff Pike's candidacy. The 4th 
Circuit Court of Appeals recently dismissed the suit on appeal. Both Jeff 
Pike and Wayne Pike's other son, Steve, work in law enforcement.

In his spare time, Pike likes to write about conservation and take wildlife 
photos. He recently had to shoot some coyotes but only because they were 
going after his four Yorkshire terriers. He also pens what he calls 
"philosophical" children's fiction, some of which, including a story about 
an imaginary creature called "The Little Gonck," have been published.

But fiction aside, the truth about Pike, according to Osborne, is that "he 
was very good for Wythe County."
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