GARY—Anthony Harrison was a familiar sight outside most any operating business on the west side of the city.
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Known as “Tom-Tom,” the 50-year-old man was homeless and frequently panhandled at area drug stores, fast food restaurants and, occasionally, even the police station.
But on Wednesday afternoon, his pleas for change led to an argument outside a doctor’s office at 2200 Grant St., Lt Thomas Pawlak said.
Harrison and a man argued on the sidewalk about 4 p.m. and the man threw a brick, police said, striking Harrison in the head.
He lost his balance and fell into the street,” Pawlak said. A Salvation Army truck then ran him over. Harrison was dead at the scene.
Pawlak said the man who threw the brick drove away in a green minivan.
The case is being investigated as a homicide because the intentional act with the brick led to the traffic incident, police said.
Pawlak said the Salvation Army truck stopped at the scene and the driver is cooperating with police.
Lake County Detectives Edward Jenkins and Jeff Minchuk, who are assigned to Gary’s Violent Crimes Unit, are leading the investigation. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call them at 881-1210