Recordpub.com - Former fire chief for Garrettsville kills self Kidnapped woman from Akron firm

By Marci Piltz

Record-Courier staff writer

The former chief of the Garrettsville-Freedom-Nelson Joint Fire District fatally shot himself along a road in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Summit County early Wednesday after kidnapping a 25-year-old woman from her Akron workplace.

Donald R. Harris Jr., 52, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, police said.

Boston Heights Police Chief Joseph Varga said Harris' body was found at about 6:45 a.m., about three feet off Akron-Peninsula Road, in the vicinity where the female victim told police she last saw Harris.

Harris resigned as chief of the Garrettsville-Freedom-Nelson Joint Fire District in August 2005, said current Chief David Friess. Friess said Harris had served as chief for about six or seven years prior to his resignation. Friess said he was not sure why Harris resigned.

According to reports from Akron, Copley and Boston Heights police, the incident began around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday when Harris drove to the private ambulance company on Kelly Avenue in Akron, where the woman worked. Police said Harris was armed at the time and fired a shot during the kidnapping. No one was injured.

Copley Police Chief Michael Mier said an investigation thus far has revealed that the victim and Harris had possibly dated at some time. "They did know each other," he said.

Harris then fled with the woman to her apartment in Copley, also in Summit County. Mier said the woman's roommate reported waking to find the victim tied up.

The woman's roommate "realized what was going on and jumped from a second floor window," Mier said. "She ran a few buildings away and called 911 from her cell phone."

"Our officers arrived on the scene within one to two minutes to speak to her, and she was convinced they were still inside the apartment at that time because she hadn't seen them leave," Mier said. "We then established a perimeter around the building, evacuated the folks in the adjoining apartments and contacted Metro SWAT."

Mier said several attempts were made to contact Harris on his cell phone, without success.

"At the same time, we put a camera into the apartment to see if there was any activity in the apartment, and couldn't see anything," Mier said. "We also realized that Akron police had told us his vehicle was left at scene and her vehicle was gone. We couldn't find her vehicle at the complex, so we realized it was possible they had left before our officers arrived. We think when the roommate jumped, he realized police would be coming so he took the victim in her car and left the area."

A "be-on-the-lookout" was issued for the vehicle to surrounding police agencies, and Varga said Peninsula police located the victim and her vehicle around 4 a.m. in the area of Boston Mills and Hines Hill roads in Summit County.

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 the suspect's body was found around 6:30 a.m. about three feet off Akron-Peninsula Road," he said. "He had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was dead when we found him."

Varga said the victim was transported to the hospital by detectives from the Akron Police Department.

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.

No one at the Akron Police Department could be reached for comment on the incident Wednesday.

Hudson Hub-Times reporter Tim Troglen contributed to this report.

30.	Posted by chaotic_simplicity October 13, 2008
	When it comes to situations like this it is hard for all who are involved and all who know those involved...there will be those who will blame one or the other...there will be those who will blame both and there will be those who are still struck with such silence because it all seems so surreal. If this had happened in another community like Garrettsville but nestled in another state many would jump to judgement and make a cut and dry opinion of the situation. In this instance it's right here in OUR community. It is not anyone's place to judge another, in this situation it's true, there are only two people who knew/know the details of the events beginning to end, one cannot speak, and one can. Yet still there are many stories across the country that involve similar circumstances that do not end like this, that do not involve two people who are as known by their communities, and who are as passionate about their careers which involve assisting members of their communities during events of human trauma whether that is a house fire, a car accident, a medical emergency, etc. This is where the focus shouldn't be who to blame for what happened, instead it should be healing from what happened and trying to move forward while remembering the good. I knew Don and Kourtney and I can tell you that I've known both to be amazing individuals, careing, passionate, and hard working and I do think it is time for this story to come down...

28.	Posted by tock2me October 10, 2008
	I did not stand back and do nothing! Everyone thought that Kourtney was out of the family's life. After all she lived in Colorado. She came back to his life and the family knew nothing about it until it was to late. So unanswered question #1 is why did she come back and start everything all over again,why did she get in touch with Don again. The family knew about her 2 years ago and stood by his wife of 28+ years and we were there for her and his daughters and as far as we knew things were working out and they had our prayers and blessings. But unfortunatley Kourtney came back. And again by the time we realizedd this, Don was gone. I pray that Don does rest in Peace now. We will all miss and we continue to love him and will forever. It was a very sad ending to life that was filled with such good. He left behind a beautiful family and a family that will continue to make him so very proud and they will go on with wonderful memories and beautiful stories to tell of their father,grandfather and the love for Don will continue.A far as these Post I agree with you it needs to stop so that the family of Dons can heal and move on, but you can not post these things and not want to reply to the hurtful and mean things that are said. I am a relative and May god forgive me but Kourtney has a very heavey burden to carry and rightfuly so. Her actions caused a lot of damage to a very special family. So do I feel for her? No, she made her bed now lay in it and maybe she will have learned a few lessons and when she grows up she can teach her lessons to her future family. And I can only hope that her future does not end up like the one she destroyed. Her actions of seeing a married man was the start of this whole thing!!!Was she 100% to blame? No. But as soon as it crossed that line and she knew this was a married man then her little games should have ended. and they did not and the sad part is there are other married men in her web and I hope they get away and stay away before she strikes again.