'The consummate giver.' Akron-area doctor killed in police chase remembered by friend

A 70-year-old doctor from Bath Township, described as a "consummate giver" by a friend, died Wednesday after a man being chased by police crashed into him on Interstate 90.

Dr. Curtis Birchall was driving when Jaylen Jackson, 23, of Cleveland, hit him in a stolen vehicle near the Fulton Road overpass bridge in Tremont. Jackson is facing charges, including aggravated murder, after police said he carjacked an Amazon driver at gunpoint and evaded police.

Birchall received his Ohio medical license in 1977 before earning it in six other states. He opened The Fountain Clinic, an anti-aging clinic in Rocky River outside of Cleveland, in 2018, according to the clinic's website and Cleveland.com.

He practiced emergency medicine for 45 years, treating patients of all ages ranging from newborns to those 100 years old, the website explains.

Birchall went to the Univesity of California Los Angeles' Jules Stein Eye Institute where he learned eyelid rejuvenation by using techniques like facial fillers. He also received training from surgeons in Alabama, Beverly Hills and Florida.

"His dream for a couple of decades was to 'retire' from the ER and open an anti-aging center," said James Reed, a long-time friend of Birchall. "In this retirement, he was still working 60-plus hours a week."

Police chase and wrong-way crash

Police said Jackson stole a van from an Amazon driver around 7:18 p.m. on Summit Park Road in Cleveland Heights and drove off, leaving the driver behind uninjured.

The driver contacted police, who found the Enterprise rental van and began a pursuit into East Cleveland and onto Interstate 90 at the Eddy Road interchange.

At the beginning of the chase, one of the Cleveland Heights police officers reported hearing two shots coming from the van, said Cleveland Heights Communications Director Mike Thomas.

Police said Jackson then drove west on I-90 into Cleveland, where at some point he exited the highway, then reentered driving the wrong way, continuing westbound in the eastbound lanes.

The van crashed about 12 miles from the initial incident around 8 p.m.

Cleveland Heights and Cleveland police were on the scene and arrested Jackson near the highway, where he claimed to have a broken leg, Thomas said.

Police recovered a 9 mm pistol and two plastic baggies with heroin from Jackson, who was wanted on a Cuyahoga County warrant on another charge and was taken to the county jail, Thomas said.

Other charges against Jackson are having weapons under disability, discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises, possession of drugs and aggravated robbery. He was indicted on a domestic violence charge earlier this year, police said.

More than a doctor

Despite Birchall's long career in medicine, Reed said he never wanted to be called a doctor.

"He was a very private person and never really wanted people to think differently of him as a doctor," said Reed, owner of the Akron landscaping design company Greatest 'Scapes.

They first met when Reed arrived at Birchall's home in Bath to give him a landscape design quote to renovate his gravel driveway and dirt front yard.

"I arrived for the appointment and he wasn't there," Reed recalled. "As I was getting ready to leave out of frustration, a group of bicyclers arrived."

Birchall had arrived. After a quick chat, Reed said he would draw up the design and asked for a 50% down payment. Birchall paid the full amount.

"Point being, he was one of the most trusting individuals I've ever called a friend," Reed said.

After landscaping his home and the house next door, Reed continued talking to Birchall, often doing remodeling work for him and spending time with his newfound friend.

While working in the emergency room, Birchall would work more than 60 hours each week while operating a medical billing software company on the side, Reed said.

"He also had a civil engineering degree," he said. "He liked to joke that his father told him he needed a backup to his medical degree."

As for his family, Birchall leaves behind a father and siblings who all live out of town.

Birchall's mother died earlier this year at a nursing home in Fremont. He would visit her after work to care for her. After she died, Reed said he visited his 96-year-old father every week at his home.

"I'm not doing Curt a fraction of the justice he deserves," Reed said. "He was the consummate giver without ever expecting a thing in return."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Amazon driver carjacked, Akron-area Dr. Curtis Birchall killed