A 62-year-old Carrollton area man was found unconscious and unresponsive Thursday morning during an intense search overnight by Carroll County sheriff deputies, an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper and the patrol’s airplane.
Two K-9 units, several fire departments and 100 individuals on foot also were involved in the search for the man, who Sheriff Dale Williams said fled his residence on Kensington Rd. after a domestic disturbance call to deputies.
The man, who was treated at the scene by emergency medical technicians, was taken to Aultman Hospital and released Thursday afternoon.
Sheriff Sgt. Ron Clapper and firefighters found the man about 1 a.m. after 11 hours of searching in an area just north of Augusta, including Manfull Orchards, where there is a Verizon cell phone tower.
Williams said he attempted to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill and the Verizon operator refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff’s department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay $20 on the phone bill in order to find the man. But deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment.
The sheriff organized the search party for the man after deputies responded to the domestic call Wednesday at 2:21 p.m. at the Kensington Rd. residence. The sheriff said the caller said the man was destroying the house and breaking windows and other items.
But when deputies arrived they were told the man had fled and had taken several bottles of pills.
“I was more concerned for the person’s life,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill. Ridiculous.”
Williams said he doesn’t know how close the situation was to becoming a tragedy because he’s not a doctor, but he thinks the man’s condition was very serious.
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