A man who police say killed his son Monday night inside a downtown Harrisburg high rise had previously been charged with violating a protection from abuse order in 2018.

Douglas Spearman, 49, dragged his mortally wounded son down three flights of stairs in the River Plaza Apartments on North Front Street and then into an elevator and down to the lobby, where a police officer found them at 10:38 p.m.

When the officer started CPR on the wounded man, Spearman fled, police said. Spearman remained on the run as of Wednesday afternoon. His son, Dashawn Smith, 22, died.

Monday wasn’t Spearman’s first run-in with police.

A woman requested a PFA in 2017, saying Douglas Spearman hit her, scratched her and verbally and mentally abused her. At the time, Spearman lived with her but refused to pay

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