TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fallen Deputy's Co-Workers Turn Grief Into Action

ADVERTISEMENT

By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2007

TAMPA - Two nights after Hillsborough County sheriff's Sgt. Ron Harrison was shot to death earlier this year, several of his co-workers decided to turn their grief into action.

Harrison was shot Aug. 15 at the intersection of Lumsden Road and Kings Avenue. He died in his unmarked patrol car after working at a DUI checkpoint operation. The shooter, Michael Phillips, 23, was killed hours later at his mother's home in Brandon after a standoff with deputies.

Those who worked with the longtime sheriff's employee wanted both to honor his memory and keep the cause he stood for alive, said dispatcher Lauren Cherup.

She and her co-workers toyed with a few ideas before a bracelet campaign was suggested. Once the idea received the approval of the sheriff's office and Harrison's family, a final design was created and 7,500 bracelets were ordered. They went on sale this month.

The outside of the black and green rubber rings are stamped with "In Memory of Sgt. Ron Harrison, 3D, EOW 8/15/07." The inside says: "Don't drink and drive - MADD."

The "3D" stands for Operation 3D, the sheriff's DUI checkpoint program that Harrison supervised, and "EOW" is an acronym for "end of watch."

The bracelets are available for $3 at the sheriff's four district headquarters, at the sheriff's operations center in Ybor City and at the county courthouse. All proceeds are designated for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

As of Thursday, about 800 wristbands had been sold, Cherup said. The campaign's slogan is "banding together to eliminate drunk driving."

Linda Unfried is a member of the sheriff's legal office and a MADD volunteer who is working with Cherup to carry out the campaign.

"The donations are based on Sgt. Harrison's love for MADD, Unfried said. "He was our biggest advocate."

Unfried was working alongside Harrison at a checkpoint in the hours before he died.

"I remember giving him a hug in the parking lot before I left to go home and I told him to be careful out there," Unfried said.

She recalled how she and Harrison "butted heads" after he decided that MADD volunteers no longer could approach drivers at the checkpoints to hand out pamphlets.

"I asked him why, and he just said, 'Because it's my checkpoint and I said so,'" Unfried said. "I was so mad."

After Harrison died, a colleague shared with Unfried that the sergeant had told him he made the decision to protect the civilian volunteers from possible danger.

"I understand why he did that now," she said. "He knew the evil that was out there and he was only trying to protect us. I'm grateful for that. We're all grateful for that."

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at mwells@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7839.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT