Hudsonhubtimes.com - Police say former fire chief shot himself after kidnapping woman

by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Boston Heights -- Police say an armed kidnapping which began in Akron Sept. 24 sometime around 1 a.m., ended here shortly before 5 a.m. when the 52-year-old suspect took his own life with a single shot from a .45 caliber handgun.

Township Police Chief Michael Mier identified the suspect as Donald Harris Jr. of Garrettsville. He was fire chief with the Garrettsville Freedom Nelson Joint Fire District in Portage County for about six years until he retired 2005, according to current Fire Chief David Friess.

Police found Harris' body around 6:45 a.m. in a wooded area in Boston Heights, near Akron-Peninsula Road where the kidnapping victim said she last saw him. Mier said he was killed with an apparent self-inflicted single gunshot wound to the chest.

Mier said the alleged kidnapping began after Harris drove to a private ambulance company on Kelly Avenue in Akron, where his 25-year-old former girlfriend worked.

Mier said Harris fired one shot into the air and took both her and a male co-worker hostage. No one was injured in the shooting.

He said Harris tied the pair up and drove them to the woman's Lochraven Boulevard apartment in Copley Township. Her roommate was home at the time.

Mier said the woman's roommate "realized what was going on and jumped from a second floor window."

"She ran a few buildings away and called 911 from her cell phone," Mier said.

He said a police SWAT team arrived a few minutes later, but Harris had already drove away with his former girlfriend.

"When they arrived, they thought they were both still in the apartment," Mier said. "We evacuated the adjacent apartments and tried to make contact with the suspect by cell phone, but it kept going into voicemail. They did put a [remote control] camera into the room but did not see anyone."

Mier said police put out a radio message advising all departments to be on the lookout for the girlfriend's car, which they believed Harris was driving.

"A short time later, we received a call from Boston Heights Police that they had located the car and the victim on Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Heights," Mier said.

Mier said the woman was not hurt.

Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said the woman told police Harris "gave her the car and took off" into the woods.

"She called 911 from a hidden cell phone," Varga said.

Varga said the woman drove to a spot near Hines Hill and Boston Mills roads, where she was met by police.

The victim was able to tell police the approximate area she had left Harris in and, because officers knew Harris was armed, the SWAT team was called to that location to set up a perimeter and begin a search, Varga said.

"We also called in K-9's from Twinsburg, Stow and Kent, and detectives from the Akron Police Department," he said.

He said police searched the wooded area near where the woman was dropped off and found Harris' body.

He also said the FBI responded to the scene because the location where Harris' body was found is part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park system, which is federal land.

"They did come out and assist with the recovery of evidence," Varga said, noting the weapon used -- a .45-caliber handgun -- was recovered at the scene.

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146