Man accused of fighting with cops in ER

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Warrants for felonious assault have been issued for a Park Avenue man after reports said he ran away from two Mercy Health police officers Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Police are looking for Jamar Houser, 28, who faces two counts of felonious assault and obstructing official business.

A woman who said she is Houser’s girlfriend came to the emergency room at St. Elizabeth about about 11:24 a.m. saying she needed treatment because she was assaulted by Houser. Reports said the woman had a bloody mouth and was missing some teeth.

While she was waiting, reports said she pointed out Houser, who was at the metal detector. When police tried to take him into custody, he pushed an officer and ran off.

An officer grabbed Houser’s shirt but Houser was able to skirt free, reports said. He was chased into the parking lot, but he got into a car and drove away. Hospital police searched around the hospital but did not find him.

This would be the fifth time he has faced arrest since his 2012 release from jail, when prosecutors dropped charges alleging he murdered an elderly woman in 2010 in the parking lot of St. Dominic Church because of newly discovered evidence. Since 2012, he has been arrested twice for being a felon in possession of a firearm, burglary and domestic violence.