Former Lucas County Auditor dies after jump from hospital parking garage

6/8/2010

Former Lucas County Auditor Larry Kaczala died Tuesday after jumping from a parking garage at Toledo Hospital, police said.

Mr. Kaczala, 53, of Ottawa Hills was pronounced dead at the scene.

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said he jumped at 11:35 a.m. from the fifth floor level of the parking garage that connects the Conrad Jobst and Harris McIntosh towers. His car was parked on the same level.

Mr. Kaczala, a real estate lawyer and longtime Republican, was elected to Toledo City Council in 1991 and served on council until he was appointed Lucas County auditor in 1993 — a job he held for 14 years. As auditor, he was recognized for making the county's real estate records available online.

He was elected to the auditor's job for three terms before losing his campaign for re-election to Democrat Anita Lopez in 2006.

Mr. Kaczala had unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) in 2004, a campaign that many felt cost him the auditor's race two years later because it allowed Ms. Lopez to raise the fact that convicted GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe and his wife, Bernadette, gave Mr. Kaczala $6,000 for his campaign to unseat Ms. Kaptur.

In his last bid for office, Mr. Kaczala ran unsuccessfully in 2007 for Toledo Municipal Court judge.