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Police say ex-fire chief apparently killed self after releasing woman
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Sep 26, 2008
Tied up and desperate, David Ridenour managed to dial 911 from his cell phone.
Moments before — about 1 a.m. Wednesday — Ridenour witnessed the kidnapping of a co-worker by her ex-boyfriend, he told police.
Ridenour, who works at an Akron ambulance company, said the man told him that ''he would probably be dead by morning, but she and I would be fine.''
About 6:30 a.m., police found the body of Donald R. Harris, 52, about 3 feet off Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Township.
He apparently shot himself in the chest, Copley Township Police Chief Michael Mier said.
Harris, of Garrettsville, was the former chief of the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District in Portage County.
Police said Harris had released the 25-year-old kidnap victim on a rural road in Boston Heights. Harris had then driven her car to the spot off Akron-Peninsula Road.
The roommate of the victim said Harris was married with two children and two grandchildren.
Harris arrived at the Mobil Martin ambulance company on Kelly Avenue in Akron shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
He tied Ridenour's hands and legs with half-inch-wide plastic strips, then took the woman to her apartment off Jacoby Road in Copley Township, police said.
The woman's roommate, Vickie Griffin, said she was asleep on the couch when she heard a whimper and woke up to find Harris and her gagged roommate in the apartment.
''He was pointing a 45 [caliber handgun] at me,'' Griffin said. ''He said, 'Come on, let's go upstairs.' I thought, 'That's it . . . we're dead.' ''
Griffin said her dog started barking and her cats were circling. In the confusion, Griffin somehow became separated from Harris and her roommate.
Griffin escaped the apartment by leaping from a second-floor window.
''I punched out the screen of the window,'' she said. ''The next thing I remember, I was hanging from the second-floor window by one hand and then I remember looking down — thinking, I hope the bush doesn't get me — and I hit the ground.''
She called 911 from outside the apartment about 1:20 a.m.
Copley police, who also had been alerted by Akron police, arrived minutes later, but Harris and the victim were gone.
''What we think happened is the suspect apparently realized [the roommate] was outside and she was calling the police,'' Mier said.
As a precaution, several nearby apartments were evacuated. A SWAT team set up and used a remote-controlled camera to search the woman's apartment.
Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said the victim, using her cell phone, called police about 4 a.m. and met with Peninsula police in Boston Township about three miles from where the body was found.
Listen to the 911 calls about this incident
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Tied up and desperate, David Ridenour managed to dial 911 from his cell phone.
Moments before — about 1 a.m. Wednesday — Ridenour witnessed the kidnapping of a co-worker by her ex-boyfriend, he told police.
Ridenour, who works at an Akron ambulance company, said the man told him that ''he would probably be dead by morning, but she and I would be fine.''
About 6:30 a.m., police found the body of Donald R. Harris, 52, about 3 feet off Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Township.
He apparently shot himself in the chest, Copley Township Police Chief Michael Mier said.
Harris, of Garrettsville, was the former chief of the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District in Portage County.
Police said Harris had released the 25-year-old kidnap victim on a rural road in Boston Heights. Harris had then driven her car to the spot off Akron-Peninsula Road.
The roommate of the victim said Harris was married with two children and two grandchildren.
Harris arrived at the Mobil Martin ambulance company on Kelly Avenue in Akron shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
He tied Ridenour's hands and legs with half-inch-wide plastic strips, then took the woman to her apartment off Jacoby Road in Copley Township, police said.
The woman's roommate, Vickie Griffin, said she was asleep on the couch when she heard a whimper and woke up to find Harris and her gagged roommate in the apartment.
''He was pointing a 45 [caliber handgun] at me,'' Griffin said. ''He said, 'Come on, let's go upstairs.' I thought, 'That's it . . . we're dead.' ''
Griffin said her dog started barking and her cats were circling. In the confusion, Griffin somehow became separated from Harris and her roommate.
Griffin escaped the apartment by leaping from a second-floor window.
''I punched out the screen of the window,'' she said. ''The next thing I remember, I was hanging from the second-floor window by one hand and then I remember looking down — thinking, I hope the bush doesn't get me — and I hit the ground.''
She called 911 from outside the apartment about 1:20 a.m.
Copley police, who also had been alerted by Akron police, arrived minutes later, but Harris and the victim were gone.
''What we think happened is the suspect apparently realized [the roommate] was outside and she was calling the police,'' Mier said.
As a precaution, several nearby apartments were evacuated. A SWAT team set up and used a remote-controlled camera to search the woman's apartment.
Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said the victim, using her cell phone, called police about 4 a.m. and met with Peninsula police in Boston Township about three miles from where the body was found.
Listen to the 911 calls about this incident
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
