Harris Daughter: Student Said “Rude Things” About Dad

Bob Joseph/WNBF News [March 5, 2014][/caption]A daughter of Calvin and Michele Harris took to social media to discuss a classroom incident that reportedly preceded a confrontation between a fellow student and her father, who is being tried for murder in connection with the disappearance of her mother.

On her Twitter account, 19-year-old Cayla Harris directed a tweet to CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty and a woman who commented on the March 5 incident in Owego.

A man who is also is a student in Cayla's SUNY Broome American History class told village police Calvin Harris "started yelling and screaming at him about his daughter" as he left the Tioga County office building where the class was held.

In her tweet, Cayla Harris wrote: "it wasn't a kid, it was a 50 year old man in my college class who was saying rude things about my dad to me."

The incident happened one year to the day after Cayla Harris participated in an Owego news conference with her father, sister and two brothers to announce a "tip line" had been set up to seek information about what happened to Michele Harris.

The man who reported the after-class confrontation told Owego police he knows Calvin Harris because he had worked for Royal Ford - the car dealership Harris had owned - in 2004.

The student, whose name has not been made public, said Harris had shouted profanities at him and "threatened him that he would get him."

The student said he felt threatened for his physical safety and wished to pursue a harassment charge against Harris.

Police did not arrest Harris but they took a statement from the student and sent it to Owego village court requesting a criminal summons.

The summons was mailed to the Harris home in Spencer last week. It directed Harris to appear in village court at 4 p.m. March 26.

The incident followed a discussion in the American History class about a 1920s criminal case. The instructor told police it was noted a change of venue had occurred and the defendant may have been acquitted.

One student then suggested Harris "would get off" in his current trial in Schoharie County. According to the police report, Cayla Harris indicated the other student was talking about her father and she later left the class.

Both students attended last Thursday's class session without incident.