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Roommate escapes through window, alerts authorities
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:30 a.m. EDT, Sep 24, 2008
A 52-year-old man apparently fatally shot himself in a wooded area of Boston Heights early this morning after kidnapping a 25-year-old woman acquaintance at her Akron workplace.
The man apparently fired one shot from a pistol during the kidnapping, Copley Police Chief Michael Mier said.
The woman was found in Boston Heights, apparently uninjured, the chief said.
A male co-worker reportedly was at the scene of the kidnapping and also apparently was not injured, the chief said. Mier said he has received reports that the suspect tied up the co-worker.
Detectives also have received reports that the suspect, Donald R. Harris, who has a Portage County address and no criminal record, dated the woman at one time, Mier said.
''We clearly know they knew each other,'' the chief said.
Harris resigned as chief of the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District in Portage County in 2005.
He was chief for about six or seven years and left the job ``under his own will and moved on,'' said David J. Friess, who now heads the district.
Friess said that when Harris was chief it was a part-time position. It is now a full-time job.
Friess declined to further discuss Harris, saying he had not seen him in about three years.
Harris fled with the woman from the Akron business -- a private ambulance company — to her apartment on Lochraven Boulevard in Copley Township, according to Copley police.
There, he reportedly tied her up and ''held her captive in the apartment for what right now is an undetermined amount of time,'' Mier said.
The woman's roommate, who escaped by leaping from a second-floor window, called 911 from outside the apartment around 1:20 a.m.
''She jumped and ran a few units away,'' the chief said. ''Our officers were there within a minute.''
Around the same time, Akron police had called Copley police about the incident at the Akron business.
The man and the kidnapped woman left in a car before police arrived.
''What we think happened is the suspect apparently realized [the roommate] was outside and she was calling the police,'' the chief said.
Police evacuated several nearby apartments, thinking the victim and the suspect were inside the woman's apartment. A SWAT team set up a perimeter and used a remote-controlled camera to search the woman's apartment.
Around the same time, officers realized the woman's car was missing and contacted area police agencies.
Harris apparently drove the woman in her vehicle to a spot along Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Heights. After some period of time he apparently told her to leave, Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said.
The woman drove north on Akron-Peninsula to Boston Mills Road and headed west, Varga said. She called 911, using her cell phone, around 4:40 a.m. and met up with Peninsula police in Boston Township, adjacent to Boston Heights village.
Officers from area police departments, using information provided by the woman, began searching an area off Akron-Peninsula. Around 6:30 a.m., a Twinsburg police dog found the suspect's body about three feet west of Akron-Peninsula, south of Boston Mills Road.
The suspect had apparently shot himself in the chest, authorities said.
A 52-year-old man apparently fatally shot himself in a wooded area of Boston Heights early this morning after kidnapping a 25-year-old woman acquaintance at her Akron workplace.
The man apparently fired one shot from a pistol during the kidnapping, Copley Police Chief Michael Mier said.
The woman was found in Boston Heights, apparently uninjured, the chief said.
A male co-worker reportedly was at the scene of the kidnapping and also apparently was not injured, the chief said. Mier said he has received reports that the suspect tied up the co-worker.
Detectives also have received reports that the suspect, Donald R. Harris, who has a Portage County address and no criminal record, dated the woman at one time, Mier said.
''We clearly know they knew each other,'' the chief said.
Harris resigned as chief of the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District in Portage County in 2005.
He was chief for about six or seven years and left the job ``under his own will and moved on,'' said David J. Friess, who now heads the district.
Friess said that when Harris was chief it was a part-time position. It is now a full-time job.
Friess declined to further discuss Harris, saying he had not seen him in about three years.
Harris fled with the woman from the Akron business -- a private ambulance company — to her apartment on Lochraven Boulevard in Copley Township, according to Copley police.
There, he reportedly tied her up and ''held her captive in the apartment for what right now is an undetermined amount of time,'' Mier said.
The woman's roommate, who escaped by leaping from a second-floor window, called 911 from outside the apartment around 1:20 a.m.
''She jumped and ran a few units away,'' the chief said. ''Our officers were there within a minute.''
Around the same time, Akron police had called Copley police about the incident at the Akron business.
The man and the kidnapped woman left in a car before police arrived.
''What we think happened is the suspect apparently realized [the roommate] was outside and she was calling the police,'' the chief said.
Police evacuated several nearby apartments, thinking the victim and the suspect were inside the woman's apartment. A SWAT team set up a perimeter and used a remote-controlled camera to search the woman's apartment.
Around the same time, officers realized the woman's car was missing and contacted area police agencies.
Harris apparently drove the woman in her vehicle to a spot along Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Heights. After some period of time he apparently told her to leave, Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said.
The woman drove north on Akron-Peninsula to Boston Mills Road and headed west, Varga said. She called 911, using her cell phone, around 4:40 a.m. and met up with Peninsula police in Boston Township, adjacent to Boston Heights village.
Officers from area police departments, using information provided by the woman, began searching an area off Akron-Peninsula. Around 6:30 a.m., a Twinsburg police dog found the suspect's body about three feet west of Akron-Peninsula, south of Boston Mills Road.
The suspect had apparently shot himself in the chest, authorities said.
Comments
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Boston Hts, Oh
Posted 01:07 PM, 09/24/2008
Vickie is a hero!She saved her friends life!
Posted 03:31 PM, 09/24/2008
I wonder how long all the officers sat at the apt building before they realized that the suspect and victim weren't even there? Hmm...
Akron, oh
Posted 04:38 PM, 09/24/2008
CPD and Akron units were already en route to Loch Raven before Vicki called...
somewhere near you, OH
Posted 09:17 PM, 09/24/2008
Great outcome, saved the taxpayers alot of money...
Posted 12:31 AM, 09/25/2008
Where are the news about the candidates? what is the matter with this paper? When McCain does so poorly you guys don't report??? Shame on you!!!!!
Posted 01:09 AM, 09/25/2008
This is a very sad story. I knew Chief Harris and he was a very fine man and a very dedicated firefighter and Fire Chief with the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District. Unfortunately, for those who never met him, he will only remember for this horrific moment. I am very glad that the 25 year old victim is safe. She is not the only victim. I pray for his two daughters and family members he left behind. I have never been so shocked and saddened in my life. I just hope that his victim is able to recover and get past this nightmare. I hope she has some closure with him now being gone. I just want people to realize that prior to 2005, Chief Harris was an honorable and dedicated public servant. He obviously had some very deep emotional issues that I can never explain. I will keep his victim and his family in my prayers.
Posted 08:01 AM, 09/25/2008
Please be kind with your post. Put yourself in his family's place. I don't know Don but I know his wonderful family and some very close friends. I praise God that the 25 year old victim is safe also and that she will be able to move on with her life. The family of Mr. Harris however will not only have to deal with his death but this whole situation. Please try to put yourself in there place before posting rude comments. He must of had some emotional problems. Keep them all in your prayers I know me and my family will be praying for all involved.
Boston Hts, Oh
Posted 03:27 PM, 09/25/2008
Roxann, Which comment are you condsidering rude? Maybe Im missing something?
Posted 01:36 PM, 09/28/2008
I want everyone to know that yes, big deal I jumped out the window and I am not a hero. She is my best friend. He was a disturbed person. But we both are sorry he did this and she did try for hours to talk him out of killing himself. He was still someones father, son, grandfather etc. and deserves to be acknowledged as a human being in this world. No one has even posted an obituary for him, does anyone care? We are sad for his kids and his little granddaughters. They have lost someone they love. They don't know anything except he is gone from there lives forever. Do not sit in judgementof Don or Kourtney. They like every other person on this planet have made mistakes in our lives and good or bad we all must live with the outcome. No one knows what made him do this, but I can tell you it was not one single thing or event in his life. It is a culmination of many and each and every person who is a part of his life knows the role they played. Right now we are trying to deal with all of this and return to some semblence of our lives as we jnew it before this tragedy occured. We thank everyone who has called wrote and sent their thought s and prayers, and speaking for myself, mine go out to Dons family and his children and grandkids.
Posted 07:28 AM, 09/29/2008
it is a sad story...confusing to everyone involved...i am glad the young women survived, and that her friend had the chance to esacape...sorry for his family...how sad for them.
