City to pause for slain deputy

Part of I-275 will be shut down for his funeral procession today.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 21, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: XXXX] Sgt. Ronald Harrison, 55, died Aug. 15 after being ambushed on an east Hillsborough County road. He was a 27-year Sheriff's Office veteran. Authorities think he was killed by a man with a long record of arrests who felt animosity toward law enforcement. Related content Complete coverage of today's funeral

TAMPA -- As head of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office DUI unit, Sgt. Ronald Harrison worked to make Florida's roads safe.

Today, in his memory, an interstate highway shuts down, a governor arrives and thousands mourn a beloved colleague, father and role model.

Sgt. Harrison, 55, died Aug. 15 after being ambushed on an east Hillsborough County road. He was a 27-year Sheriff's Office veteran. Authorities think he was killed by a man with a long record of arrests who felt animosity toward law enforcement.

Funeral services for Sgt. Harrison begin at 1 p.m. at Idlewild Baptist Church at 19375 N Dale Mabry Highway in Lutz.

Police are warning drivers to avoid southbound Interstate 275 between Bearss Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between 3 and 6 p.m. It will be blocked to allow a procession to Garden of Memories Cemetery.

On Monday, a steady stream of visitors filed into St. John's Missionary Baptist Church for visitation, offering a low-key prelude to today's services.

Judges, politicians, sheriffs and police chiefs, current and retired, were among the mourners.

For three hours, Sgt. Harrison's children and ex-wife hugged and greeted uniformed officers, friends and even strangers, while his uniformed body laid in an open casket a few feet away.

"He's a soldier of the community," said Maggie Hunter, 50, who never met Harrison but said she felt moved to attend. "You got to pay your respects when soldiers die."

Joyful gospel music filled the air as a long line skirted the red-carpeted sanctuary toward Sgt. Harrison's family.

And though grief had brought them together, there were also smiles -- a testament, one relative said, to Sgt. Harrison's goodness and kindness toward others.

"It's really comforting," said cousin Artesa Bohannon, 49, who regards the slain deputy as a brother. She said her parents raised him after his own parents died when he was 15.

"All the people from all over the county, at every realm, they're willing to do anything and everything for us. That not only says a lot of about my brother, but it says a lot about the brotherhood of law enforcement."

Joe Mendola Jr., 76, was among those who came Monday.

A member of the Sheriff's Office unarmed parking enforcement team, he recalled a moment he thought described Sgt. Harrison to a T.

Last year, Mendola witnessed a crash in Brandon. He called for help and waited. He called again.

Sgt. Harrison pulled up in an unmarked car. "I heard you calling," Mendola remembered him saying. "He said, 'You sounded like a sick cow.'"

"The sergeant was like that," Mendola's son, Joe Mendola III, said as two parking enforcement deputies took a shaded seat on the bumper of an ambulance. "It didn't matter what the job was. He solved the problem."

Today, young and old, dignitaries and parking enforcers, strangers and friends will gather.

Gov. Charlie Crist will speak, among others, with closing remarks by Sheriff David Gee.

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 01:26:39]