Kidnapping trial opens
The trial for a Uniontown man accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and her children began Monday in Fayette County Court. Eric Harris, 34, of 40 Thomas St., looked ahead as Tawana Mills described for jurors how he forced his want into her mother’s Carlisle Street home and assaulted her. He then allegedly pushed a handgun in her chest and forced her to wake up her three children around 12:30 a.m. on June 21, 2001.
According to court documents, Harris forced Mills into a car and ordered her to start driving. At an alley off Park Avenue, he allegedly ordered Mills out of the car, then held a gun to her chest and threatened to kill her over questions about her fidelity.
At a Dunlap Street apartment, where Harris next allegedly ordered Mills to stop, she managed to contact her mother, who called police. Harris reportedly fled.
Mills told jurors that she was treated at the hospital for bruises and scrapes, but did not need to have surgery or miss any work because of the alleged assault.
Mills also acknowledged that Harris sent her letters apologizing for the alleged assault, but did not mention a gun in any of them.
Uniontown Police Detective Phillip W. Jones charged Harris with three counts of kidnapping, two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and one count each of unlawful restraint and firearms not to be carried without a license.
His trial will pick up this morning before Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi.