Thieves target man who loses husband, breaks ankle in Dayton apartment fire

DAYTON — A man who lost his husband in an apartment fire last month and broke his ankle falling from the burning building has been victimized again.

Raymond Russell said his bicycle and scooter, his only means of transportation, were stolen from a storage room at the same apartment building.

News Center 7's Mike Campbell sat down with Russell, who for the first time spoke about the deadly Jan. 28 fire, his escape, the death of his spouse 60-year-old Dale Carter, and now the thefts.

Russell said he couldn’t believe it when police knocked on his door to tell him someone broke into a locked storeroom and took his bike and scooter.

“I was at a loss,” Russell said. “Very frustrating, I mean, it’s like kicking a dog when they’re down, you know?”

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Russell has a cast on his broken left ankle, and the apartment building managers were able to find him another unit.

His sister is here to support him as he recovers physically and emotionally from a fire that took his husband’s life.

When the fire broke out, Russell said he was trying to charge a scooter battery pack.

“Yes, it was the battery, started shooting flames out,” he said.

He and Carter headed for the windows in the bedroom.

“I climbed out the window. I was holding onto the window. Dale was right there and the smoke overtook him,” he said.

Russell lost his grip and fell two stories to the ground.

Firefighters rescued four people down ladders to safety, but could not get to Carter in time.

>> RELATED: Police helped alert residents to deadly Dayton apartment fire

“I have nightmares about it. I dream about him. He’s gone. I’m never going to see him again,” he said.

Russell and Carter were together 32 years. They got married in Florida about a year and a half ago.

“The last thing he said was, ‘fire!’ That’s the last words I ever heard him say,” Russell said. “When you see the stories on how fast (fire) can spread, believe it. It spreads fast.”

Russell said he and Carter had begun making plans to move to North Carolina.

Now, he is taking it one day at a time.