Pubdate: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2002 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Rex Bowman DEA AGENT FACES MURDER CHARGE ROANOKE - An agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was charged with murder yesterday after the shooting death of a Roanoke man in a restaurant parking lot, city police said. Roanoke police allege that Timothy G. Workman, 31, a special agent with the McAllen, Texas, office of the DEA, fatally shot the man with a revolver during an argument and fight yesterday at 2:17 a.m. outside O'Charley's restaurant. Keith E. Bailey, 41, died where he fell, shot in the chest. Police said both men had been in the restaurant before their confrontation in the parking lot. Police spokeswoman Shelly Alley declined to say what the two men were allegedly arguing about, saying only "a verbal exchange led to a physical scuffle" and that the two men did not know each other. Workman was off duty at the time, an official said. Roanoke prosecutor Donald Caldwell said he was "not going to make any comment until after Mr. Workman's arraignment. This has the potential to be a little bit nasty because of the person involved and his history in law enforcement." Workman, of Mission, Texas, is scheduled to appear today in Roanoke General District Court. A spokesman for the DEA in Washington said Workman was in Roanoke on temporary duty "for investigative purposes" but declined to elaborate. The victim, Bailey, was convicted of distributing cocaine in 1990, but authorities refused to say whether his history played any role in the shooting. Workman, now being held in the Roanoke jail, has been suspended from duty with pay, according to the DEA. "Whenever a life is taken by any DEA special agent, a thorough review is undertaken at the highest levels of the Department of Justice," said R.C. Gamble, special agent in charge of the DEA's Washington division. "We will work in conjunction with the Roanoke city police department and the commonwealth's attorney's office to accurately determine the facts of this case." Roanoke investigators talked to witnesses inside and outside the restaurant before charging Workman with murder, Alley said. He also was charged with using a firearm in the commission of a felony. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom