ELYRIA — A 24-year-old man riding a bike was taken to the hospital with a broken leg after he was hit by a pickup truck this morning.

The accident happened at 5:45 a.m. at the intersection of Foster and Lake avenues in Elyria, according to Fire Capt. Robert Donofrio.

Engine 3 responded to 385 Foster and found the man lying on the ground with his pantleg in the sprockets of the bike with “an obvious left femur fracture,” Donofrio said.

The man was taken to EMH Regional Medical Center by LifeCare, Donofrio said. Neither his identity nor his condition were immediately known.

Donofrio did not have any information on the driver of the pickup, but said that individual wasn’t hurt.

Elyria police also responded.

ELYRIA — Police responding to reports of a man causing problems at a bar wound up in a foot chase overnight and had to call in the Fire Department after the fleeing man wound up in the Black River.

Patton

Elyria police were called to Ely’s Inn, 45 East Ave., about 12:30 a.m. for a report of a man sitting at the bar exposing himself to other patrons.

Before police arrived the man had walked out of the bar, and he took off as police approached.

The man, later determined to be Andre Patton, 19, of Elyria, ran north on East Avenue toward Bill Baker’s Appliance, where he disappeared, according to a dispatch narrative of the incident.

As officers searched the area, they “heard a loud splash and could observe large swirls going across the Black River.”

Officers searched the river and bank from both sides for about 10 minutes when they saw the man get out of the river and continue to run north on the riverbank about 50 feet before again falling into the river.

The Fire Department had been called in to light the river from the Washington Avenue bridge when the man again emerged from the river shivering. As firefighters were attempting to get a rope to him to help him up the steep riverbank, officers managed to help him grab trees and other objects and then pull him the rest of the way to the top of the bank.

Patten was taken to the Elyria police station and then to the Lorain County Jail, where is being held on $3,250 bond.

He is charged with resisting arrest and obstructing official business and was to appear in Elyria Municipal Court this morning. Officers speaking with patrons at Ely’s Inn were told Patten had also been waving a gun at patrons outside the bar.

LORAIN — The Lorain Fire Department is investigating its second arson in as many nights.

A fire last night at a vacant Lorain home was intentionally set, according to fire Capt. Dennis Livchak.

A call came in at 6:55 p.m. for a report of a kitchen fire at a single-family home at 739 W. Ninth St., Livchak said.

Firefighters arrived to find visible fire in the kitchen and extinguished the fire.

A back window of the home was open and a front door was unsecured. Two neighbors separately reported seeing two men in the back yard and on the front porch prior to the fire.

The Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau was called in to investigate, and Lorain police searched the area for the two men but did not find them.

The value of the house was listed as only $25,000, and damage from the fire was listed at $1,000.

The Fire Prevention Bureau is also investigating an arson that broke out Sunday night at 327 W. 15th Street. That home, a duplex, was unoccupied after a fire 10 days earlier forced two families to find somewhere else to stay.

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Two smaller fires later in the evening kept the Fire Department busy following the arson.

Firefighters were called about 9:40 p.m. to 311 Colorado Ave. for a report of a bathroom fire in a second-floor apartment.

Crews found smoke from an exhaust fan in the bathroom and removed the fan to find fire in a concealed space above in the ceiling.

The fire was extinguished and the property released to the occupant and owner. Damage was estimated at $5,000.

At 10:20 p.m. firefighters were called to a stove fire at 2428 North Jefferson Blvd. They talked to the homeowner who said he had tried to use flour to put out the fire, but was unsuccessful, so he closed the stove and called 911.

Firefighters found light smoke coming from the stove and evidence there had been a grease fire.

LORAIN — The Lorain County Drug Task Force has raided a Lorain home and hauled its owner out in handcuffs.

They also spent about two hours packing up the supplies for his marijuana growing operation, including lighting, fans, a humidifier, chemicals, fans and even a vacuum sealer they say comprised three “drug houses” within his home.

The person arrested was the homeowner of 341 Root Road in Lorain, near the border with Sheffield Lake. He lived alone, according to sheriff’s deputies.

More photos below.

Neighbors referred to him as “Mark” and said he had lived there about 10 to 12 years, had built his own home from the ground up and was a brick layer by trade who had worked on many homes along the street. The Lorain County Auditor’s Web site lists the homeowner as Mark J. Gorta.

The Lorain County Drug Task Force, comprised mainly of sheriff’s deputies, hauled out about 15 to 20 fully grown marijuana plants, which they said were valued at about $1,000 apiece. They also found about 10 more marijuana plants in various stages of growth. They said the marijuana he was growing would be considered high grade.

Deputies said they would classify him as a low-to-above-average home grower and expected him to face felony charges of marijuana cultivation, among other charges.

“It wasn’t like he was dealing with a ton of people,” one deputy said. “He had a few steady customers.”

That sentiment was echoed by neighbors, who described him as “a nice guy” and said he mostly kept to himself.

One neighbor said he’d been inside his house recently and hadn’t noticed anything amiss or any funny smells. The marijuana smells were stifling as deputies hauled it out, though. Sheriff’s officers seemed to be having a tough time packing it all into the back of a county van, and kept the door open for ventilation ahead of their ride back.

A man who showed up as officers investigated said he was the homeowner’s brother and was allowed to take his dog with him.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.