News

October 30, 2009

Man with area ties dies in war

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

One of the three Drug Enforcement Administration agents killed Monday in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan has ties to a prominent local doctor.

Chad L. Michael, 30, is the stepson of Dr. Leo M. Hartz and the son of Mrs. Debbie Hartz. Leo Hartz is the chief medical officer of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Michael and his comrades were the first DEA agents killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan this year.

The Hartzes, of Dallas, could not be reached for comment.

Michael was listed by the DEA as a resident of Quantico, Va., but at one time worked out of the Miami field office.

“Chad was a dedicated Drug Enforcement Agency officer who had been deployed to Afghanistan to assist the U.S. military in stopping the flow of drugs from that country. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. and Debbie Hartz and his family during this difficult time,” Blue Cross spokesman Anthony Matrisciano said.

Michael died along with fellow DEA agents Forrest N. Leamon, 37 of Woodbridge, Va., and Michael E. Weston, 37, of Washington, D.C., and seven military members during a joint counter-narcotics mission in Afghanistan.

The helicopter the agents and troops were aboard was leaving the area when it crashed, DEA spokesman Kevin McWilliams said.

“We are all saddened by this tragic event. DEA is an extremely tight family, and the death of these three brave agents is a devastating loss for us. No expressions of grief can adequately convey the depth of the collective sorrow that we feel for their loved ones,” DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said.

McWilliams said it is too early in the agency’s investigation to know why the helicopter crashed.

Michael and Leamon were members of the Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams, and Weston was assigned to DEA’s Kabul office.

The support team works in a supervisory role assisting and advising the Afghan narcotics police division on the proper ways to destroy drug labs and to seize chemicals and opiates to destroy the drug trade in Afghanistan, McWilliams said.

“They target the highest-level traffickers, target and command structures, focusing on eventual dismantlement of their organization, their arrest and prosecution,” he said.

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