SGT Carl E. Summers
SGT Carl E. Summers
377th Security Police Squadron

Lodi, Ohio

Medina Co. Gazette - 12/12/1977:  Lodi - Police are still searching for clues in last Monday's hit skip accident that killed Capt. Carl Summers. Summers, 31, a seven-year veteran of the Lodi Police Department, died at 7 a. m. Saturday in the intensive care unit of Akron City Hospital.

The Summit County Corner will rule in the case.

A spokesman for the Summit County Coroner's office said the ruling may take awhile because information must be gathered from the Medina County Sheriff's Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Lodi police, which are conducting a joint investigation of the incident.

Summers was struck by a motor vehicle after he and Ptl. Steven Gray had stopped a man for driving an allegedly stolen pick-up truck on Avon Lake Road outside of Lodi.

After the pick-up truck was pulled over, the suspect fled the vehicle with Gray in pursuit, and Summers staying back at the parked truck and police vehicles.

When Gray returned, he found Summers lying unconscious in the middle of the road.

Because Gray was chasing the suspect, he was unable to see or hear what type of vehicle hit Summers, police said.

There have been few clues in the case and no positive identification of the hit-skip vehicle, Lodi Police Chief Jim Wantz said.

"All we know is it was a motor vehicle that hit Summers," Wantz added.

Lodi police are offering a $1,800 reward for any tips leading to the arrest of suspects in the case.  Wantz said he hopes to raise as much as $10,000 for the und.

Summers, of Lodi, was a member of the American Federation of Police and Bethany Baptist Church.

He was a Vietnam veteran and was awarded the Air Force Commendation medal and citation for meritorious service as a member of the 377th Security Police Squadron while serving as an armored car commander.

A graduate of Black River High School, he is survived by his wife, Susie; a daughter, Nancy, parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Carl B. Summers of Lodi; a sister, Mrs. Vickie Brown of Kentucky and three brothers, Samuel of Coventry, England and Richard and David of Lodi.

Friends may call today at the Parker Funeral Home in Lodi.  Services will be Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, Lodi.

Birth: 1946

Death:  Dec. 10, 1977