Man faces charges in car chase by police

A motion to revoke a
separate bond is set for a hearing Thursday.

By PATRICIA MEADE

VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — An unlicensed driver already under indictment in a violent home invasion is now accused of fleeing police, crashing along the way and threatening an officer.

Derrick J. Harmon, 28, of Council Rock Avenue was arraigned Friday in municipal court, and bond was set at $63,500. He faces charges of fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest, menacing, no driver’s license and reckless operation. He’ll be back in court Oct. 9.

Police said they spotted a silver Pontiac Grand Prix speeding recklessly around 1:40 a.m. Thursday on Griffith Street. An attempt was made to stop the car on Belmont Avenue but the car drove through a red light and continued on to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, reports show.

The driver lost control, struck a utility pole and continued on to Griffith with the driver’s door hanging off. Near the 500 block, the driver jumped out, ran, vaulted a fence and was found hiding near an apartment building, police said.

Harmon was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center for injuries from the crash. At the hospital, Harmon threatened the life of one officer and the officer’s family, saying he shoots people for a living, and also used racial slurs several times, reports show.

The home invasion, meanwhile, took place June 11. A masked gunman in a bulletproof vest forced his way into the Belden Avenue home of Forrest Adams, who had his 13-year-old son visiting at the time. The intruder was later identified by detectives as Harmon.

The ordeal left Adams with knife wounds to his left hand and upper arm. The cuts came from a kitchen knife the intruder snatched after dropping his gun. The intruder was cut with a decorative but potentially lethal ax by Adams and also shot by Adams’ son.

Harmon was originally held in jail on $1 million bond on charges related to the events at Adams’ house. When the bond was reduced to $25,000 on Aug. 22, he posted it and was released from jail.

A motion to revoke Harmon’s bond, based on an allegation that he threatened Adams, was filed Sept. 10. A hearing on the motion is set for Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

In October 1998, under the spelling of his surname as Harman, he pleaded guilty in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to assault and three counts of aggravated robbery. Two of three firearm specifications were dismissed in a plea agreement, records show.

Harman was sentenced to three years in prison for the firearm specification and five years for the robbery convictions. He was incarcerated from Dec. 16, 1998 until Nov. 25, 2006 and then began five years’ parole.

In May, with the spelling of his surname as Harmon, he pleaded no contest to a theft charge in Boardman. He received one year’s probation in that case.

meade@vindy.com