ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – A Rochester Hills man who fell asleep in his car said he had to fight for his life when he was awoken by a gunman armed with two pistols.
Deputies with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office were called around 4:30 a.m. Friday (July 16) to the 2600 block of Helmsdale Circle, near Auburn and Rochester roads.
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A Rochester Hills man told police he had fallen asleep in his car after returning from work early Friday morning. He said he awoken by someone tugging on him, officials said.
The person tugging on the man was armed with two pistols, according to authorities. The Rochester Hills man told police he grabbed onto the pistols and started to fight with the other man, later identified as Marquise Ldarius Pope, 29, of Birmingham, Alabama.
Three shots were fired during the fight, but neither man was struck by a bullet, according to officials.
Deputies said they saw Pope and the Rochester Hills man fighting when they arrived. Police said the Rochester Hills man could be heard yelling, “Who sent you?”
Officers ordered the men to drop the weapons, and two guns fell to the ground, but police said they couldn’t tell who was holding the guns because of the darkness. One of the .40-caliber, semi-automatic handguns had been stolen from Detroit, and the other was registered to a Detroit woman, officials said.
Both men had minor injuries from the fight, police said.
A second suspect wearing dark clothing and a ski mask ran away from the scene, according to authorities. Deputies tracked that person with a K-9 unit, but the search came up empty.
The Rochester Hills man told police he had been fighting for his life and didn’t want to die, officials said. He told police he had bitten one of his attackers several times.
Pope was arrested and couldn’t give police a reasonable explanation for why he was at the scene, according to officials. He has multiple arrests for weapons violations in Alabama, authorities said.
Pope was arraigned Saturday at 52nd District Court on one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder -- a 10-year felony -- and one count of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony -- a two-year felony. Bond was set at $250,000.
A probable cause conference is scheduled for July 26 at Third Division Court in Rochester Hills.
The guns are being examined to see if they might have been used to commit other crimes.
A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the second suspect. Anyone with information on that person’s whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.