An officer with the Rittman, Ohio Police, whose death in the line of duty on July 5 has triggered an outpouring of tribute and emotion in that city and beyond, had a connection to this area through kinship and his early career in law enforcement.
Sgt. Scott Ries, 54, who was fatally shot while responding to a 911 call around 9:30 p.m., had served for over 10 years with the Rittman Police, after spending 19 years with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to that, Ries had served with the police in Sugar Grove, in nearby Fairfield County.
Kay Opperman, who lives just outside Logan, is the mother of Ries’s wife Michelle, and raised her with her late husband Ottie Opperman. She said Michelle is also related to the Carpenter family of Perry County’s Maxville area…