Search still on for man who fled into river

Domestic assault suspect ran from police

lowell » The search for the man who fled into the icy waters of the Concord River on Dec. 19 to escape arrest will not be called off until he is found, police say.

Despite dangerous conditions, primarily ice and freezing water, Police Superintendent Kelly Richardson said Monday the search for Moses Harris, 25, continues.

Lowell officers were walking the shorelines Monday, Richardson said.

A petition on change.org, started by the family of Harris, claims otherwise and alleges the Lowell Police Department caused the man’s death, a charge Richardson vehemently denies.

An altercation between officers and Harris, captured on video from a camera atop the building at 850 Lawrence St., “clearly shows” officers urging Harris to stand down, Richardson said, but he did not.

Richardson said the video makes perfectly clear “Mr. Harris’ failure to comply,” adding that Harris was to be charged with domestic assault and battery and willful and malicious damage to property, the alleged victim’s motor vehicle.

Richardson said he and other top police department commanders met with members of Harris’ family at the police station Saturday morning. The police offered to show family members the video, but the offer was rejected.

A week ago, on Saturday, Dec. 19, before sunrise, a Massachusetts State Police helicopter searched for Harris. At daybreak, four state police divers entered the frigid waters of the Concord.

“Members of the State Police defied dangerous conditions both in the air and in the water,” Richardson said. “Understandably, members of Mr. Harris’

Courtesy scott shurtleff participants in a saturday march from Lawrence street to the Lowell police department aimed at raising awareness of the disappearance of moses Harris, 25, of Lowell, who police say fled into the concord river to avoid arrest on dec. 19.