YOUNGSTOWN OFFICER'S SLAYING Cabbies saw quick shooting

Police say the suspect may be trying to gather enough cash to go to Florida.
By MARALINE KUBIK
and WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police theorize the man who killed Youngstown patrol officer Michael Hartzell in his cruiser Tuesday morning got out of his own car so quickly that Hartzell was unable to react and protect himself.
That theory was borne out by witnesses to the killing, but also left other questions unanswered.
Jack Boos of Hubbard, a driver for Independent Radio Taxi, 308 Federal Plaza West, saw the shooting, along with two other drivers and the dispatcher.
The dispatcher was facing the window and said, "That guy is going to shoot the cop," according to Boos.
Boos and the other drivers turned around in time to see a man shoot Hartzell in the head directly across the street from the taxi stand. Boos said he heard several rapid-fire shots.
They ran into the street to help Hartzell, also thinking they might disarm and subdue the shooter. He fled north on Vindicator Square, however, in his two-tone gray Lincoln.
Cruiser drifted forward
The cruiser somehow slipped into gear and the car was drifting forward. The men tried unsuccessfully to hold it back. When the cruiser drifted forward, it hit the rear bumper of the Lincoln.
They tried to open the passenger door, but it was locked. Finally, as the cruiser approached the island in front of Powers Auditorium, one of the men put it into park.
Boos reached in over Hartzell's body and, found the radio microphone and reported the shooting. "I'm no doctor," he told the police dispatcher, "but he's dead," Boos said of Hartzell.
Boos said it looked like Hartzell was just waiting for the traffic light, rather than conducting a traffic stop. The cruiser's flasher lights were not on, the radio microphone was still hanging up, and Hartzell's weapon was still in the holster.
Later, the taxi drivers were taken to Rayen and North avenues by Lowellville police to identify the Lincoln. He said they knew positively it was the car because of the mark the cruiser left on the rear bumper of the Lincoln.
Chasing leads
Today, Youngstown Police public information officer Lt. Rod Foley said city police and officers from numerous other jurisdictions have run down some 120 leads.
He said the possibility that the prime suspect in the killing, whom police have identified as Martin L. Koliser Jr., 30, may be trying to get to Florida is "not off our radar screen."
Police say sources have indicated Koliser may be trying to gather enough cash to leave the area, possibly heading to Clearwater, Fla. Police warn he may be armed and dangerous.
Foley said he has not verified rumors that Koliser, or someone else, phoned the police department to say that Koliser will not be taken without a fight.
Funeral arrangements
In the meantime, arrangements are being made for Hartzell's funeral Saturday. Foley said he is expecting some 200 officers from around the area, state and country to participate in the service.
Youngstown is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of Hartzell's killer.
Hartzell was shot to death while sitting in his cruiser in front of 275 Federal Plaza West, the old Master's Uniform shop, at 2:19 a.m. Tuesday. At the time, he was investigating a gray Lincoln Town Car involved in a shooting at the Casaloma Gardens bar, 2843 Mahoning Ave., on the city's West Side. That shooting happened about two hours earlier.
Police say Hartzell had been investigating that shooting and was on his way to the police station to drop off reports when he stopped to run a license plate number on the Lincoln.
Donell Rowe, 23, of Salt Springs Road, was shot once in the chest at Casaloma. He was in serious condition in St. Elizabeth Health Center this morning.
Koliser is wanted on an attempted murder warrant in the shooting of Rowe. Police have not issued a warrant for Koliser in the Hartzell shooting.
Description of suspect
Koliser is white, 6 feet tall, 205 pounds with short brown hair, brown eyes and tattoos on his chest and left arm.
He was last seen driving a black, 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais with Ohio registration EC51DR. The car has an American flag sticker on the rear window and a red air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror, police said.
Anyone with information on Koliser or the car he was last seen driving should call the Youngstown Police Department's detective bureau at (330) 742-8911, the nonemergency police line at (330) 747-7911, or the command center at (330) 746-3434 ext. 200.
Tip from motorist
Law enforcement officers in Columbiana County and Hancock County, W.Va., responded about 3 p.m. Tuesday when a motorist called the Columbiana County sheriff's office on a cell phone and said he believed he was following the black Calais on U.S. 30 north of East Liverpool.
Officers from the sheriff's office, East Liverpool police and the Hancock County Sheriff's office were dispatched to the scene but did not see the car.
Police departments from as far away as West Virginia have offered to help Youngstown police in finding Hartzell's killer, Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.