YOUNGSTOWN Murder suspect is back in Ohio
Police confiscated two guns from a suspect charged with obstruction.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Martin L. Koliser Jr., who fled to Florida after a city patrolman was shot to death, is back in Ohio.
Koliser arrived at the Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton around 6 a.m. today, said Andrea Dean, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesman in Columbus. He is being housed in the reception area, alone in a cell classified as high security, she said.
Koliser faces a parole violation hearing at the prison, based on his trip to Florida without permission, Dean said.
The prison will release him before that to face the more serious charges pending in Mahoning County, she said.
Warden Alki Santamas at the Mahoning County jail said he needs a "warrant for removal" signed by a judge; then arrangements can be made to pick up Koliser as soon as possible.
Koliser, 30, of Boardman, is accused of shooting to death Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell and wounding Donell J. Rowe two hours apart April 29. He will face five charges, including aggravated murder and attempted murder.
What's next
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said it was possible that Koliser could be arraigned this afternoon in common pleas court, depending on when he arrives. He will likely then be housed at the Summit County jail pending trial, the prosecutor said.
Sheriff Randall A. Wellington has said it would be inappropriate to house Koliser in the Mahoning jail because Hartzell's fianc & eacute;e is a deputy in the jail's corrections division.
Koliser drove to Clearwater, Fla., arriving the evening of April 30, when he was captured at a motel and booked into the Pinellas County jail on a parole violation.
He had been sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated assault and was released Dec. 12, 2002.
TransCor, a private prisoner transport company, picked up Koliser on May 14. TransCor extradition agents -- one to every six prisoners -- use buses, vans and cars.
TransCor, based in Nashville, Tenn., is a subsidiary of Corrections Corp. of America, which once operated the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on the East Side.
The transport cost is $1.12 per mile, which includes food, fuel and lodging, a spokesman said. The trip from Clearwater, Fla., to northeastern Ohio is roughly 1,300 miles, about $1,500 for the trip.
During nighttime stop-overs, prisoners are housed in local jails and TransCor agents stay at motels.
TransCor agents carry pepper spray and have firearms locked in the vehicles, which have been modified to include bars on the windows.
Each prisoner is secured in the vehicle with ankle and wrist restraints and interlocked with another prisoner.
Others held
Four men accused of hampering police efforts to catch Koliser are in the Mahoning jail after being arrested Friday:
U Lamar Butler, 22, of Stratmore Avenue.
U Jonathan A. Kuzan, 23, of Oakwood Avenue.
U Forrest A. Rupp Jr., 23, of Massachusetts Avenue, Boardman.
U Frank A. Howley Jr., 22, of Donald Avenue.
Butler and Kuzan face unrelated charges in municipal court:
Butler is charged with possession of dangerous drugs. Police said they found two tablets of the narcotic painkiller Vicodin in Butler's pants when they arrested him.