LIMA — On Tuesday morning at 9:42 a.m., the Lima Police Department dispatch received a call about a possible shooting in the 3100 block of Elijah Pkwy. Upon their arrival, patrol officers learned of two individuals who kicked in a door and forced their way into one of the apartments where an estranged wife lived.
One of the individuals assaulted the adult resident, who was the only occupant at the time of the incident. The two assailants made their way up to the second floor and the resident fled from the apartment. While the two individuals were alone inside, something occurred and a shot was fired. One of them, identified as Rolland Houke, 29, was shot. The two men fled the residence in a vehicle and made their way toward Toledo, where both of them currently live.
A witness observed the vehicle fleeing at a high rate of speed, and contacted the Lima Police Department with the license plate number as it was fleeing the city. The vehicle was rented by the live-in girlfriend of suspect Demarkus Hardison, 31, of Toledo.
Police located Houke at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.
Investigators began tracking Hardison and with the assistance of the Toledo Police Department Gang Unit, he was captured in Toledo, where he was attempting to clean out the vehicle used during the incident.
Hardison was taken into custody on several warrants, including one from this incident. He is being held in the Lucas County Jail and arrangements will be made at a later date to extradite him back to Lima to answer for the charges resulting from this incident in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
