“I’m going to miss seeing him around the neighborhood,” a mother of two said Thursday, after learning Anthony Harrison had been killed Wednesday.
Harrison, 50, known as “Tom-Tom,” or “Tone-Tone,” she said, was smart and helpful, despite his homelessness and ragged appearance.
“He always made sure me and my toddler children made it in the house safely if he were outside passing by,” she said.
The woman, mother of two children ages 2 and 3 years old, is a resident of Delaney Community Housing Development, (Harrison’s) “stomping grounds.” She asked that her name not be used.
Harrison was killed about 4 p.m. after he was run over by a Salvation Army truck. Police are investigating as a homicide because Harrison fell into Grant Street after a man threw a “decorative” brick at Harrison’s head during an argument. He lost his balance and fell into the street in front of the doctor’s office where the altercation occurred.
Lt. Thomas Pawlak said investigators obtained surveillance video of the a green Dodge or Chrysler minivan leaving east on 21st Avenue right after the incident. He said the police believe a white man threw the brick at Harrison, then fled in the minivan with two white women. “They cut though the parking lot of the gas station,” Pawlak said.
Investigators believe Harrison was panhandling outside the doctor’s office on Grant Street when an argument began between him and the man who was leaving the building.
Most Gary officers were familiar with Harrison. Businesses would call with complaints that he was harassing customers and police would tell Harrison he had to leave. Occasionally, he would balk. He had a long criminal history, and a reputation as an old-school gangster, but his more recent crimes involved mostly thefts.
“He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” his friend said. “
Lake County Detectives Edward Jenkins and Jeff Minchuk, who are assigned to Gary’s Violent Crimes Unit, are investigating Harrison’s death. Anyone with information about the green minivan or its occupants is asked to call them at 881-1210.