Recordpub.com - Victim of attack on ventilator, paralyzed: Suspects remain in Portage County jail

Richard Lowther

By Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier staff writer

Richard A. Lowther opened his door in the middle of the night for a stranger who asked for help.

For his gesture, Lowther’s neck was broken and dislocated.

Authorities have said the 68-year-old Rootstown resident was attacked at his home last week after a woman knocked on his door and asked to use the phone. Lowther obliged, and while she used the phone two men appeared on his porch and assaulted him before stealing a coin collection and fleeing.

Shawn Lowther said his father has been rendered a quadriplegic as a result of the injuries he sustained early on the morning of July 2.

“He is completely paralyzed, without use or feeling from his chest down,” Shawn Lowther said. “If he recovers and there is no improvement, we are looking into long-term, fully dependent care — but we hope and pray it is not necessary. He has been receiving excellent care from the staff at the hospital.”

Lowther remains on a ventilator in critical condition at Akron City Hospital, where he was flown by medical helicopter shortly after the attack.

Police arrested four people in connection with the assault on the Tallmadge Road resident. Those charged are: Jonathan Dukes, 23, of 3865 Blake Avenue, Ravenna; Cortez M. Oliver, 20, of Fairlawn; Darrell Dukes, 21, of 3075 S.R. 59, Ravenna; and Jodi Fetty, 27, of 3647 McClintocksburg Road, Diamond.

All four have been charged with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony. Their bonds have been set at $350,000 and all four remained at the Portage County jail Wednesday.

Investigators believe Fetty knocked on the door at 2:30 a.m. Thursday of last week and said she had car trouble and asked for the phone. Cortez and Jonathan Dukes appeared on the porch, and when Lowther went outside to see who the men were, they attacked him.

A neighbor spotted Lowther lying on the ground in his front yard after the suspects had fled.

Shawn Lowther said his father had to undergo surgery to repair his broken neck.

“For a short time after the surgery ... my father was off a ventilator and able to speak and recall the events of the assault,” Shawn Lowther said. “Since then, complications have required that he be put back onto a ventilator and be heavily sedated.”

Lowther has been active in several area social clubs, including Parents Without Partners, the Ravenna Moose Lodge, the Kent Masonic Lodge, the Kent Canadian Club, the Kent coin club and the United Methodist Church of Kent. His family plans to set up a trust in Lowther’s name so members of the community can donate to help pay for medical expenses.

Shawn Lowther said his father is a kind man of good nature who may have been too trusting.

“As many people his age are, he grew up in a more trusting era,” Shawn Lowther said. “He has been the kind of person to help anyone in a time of need. In hindsight, it would have been best to place a call for an alleged ‘motorist in distress’ from behind closed and locked doors.”