Alleged rape in east Columbus sees arrest made nearly 21 months later

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  –  Police have made an arrest in connection with an alleged rape that occurred over 20 months ago on the East Side.

According to court documents, reports of a burglary and rape were received by Columbus police's sexual assault unit on Jan. 22, 2023. Detectives went to Stone Lodge Apartments, in the Pine Hills neighborhood, where a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted the morning prior.

Police said that the woman was awakened by a noise inside her apartment and that she saw a man standing in her bedroom while holding a knife. The man reportedly threatened to stab her child and demanded money.

The woman said she retrieved $50 from a drawer and gave it to the suspect. She told police she was then assaulted and that the man told her to shower before he left.

Evidence collected at the scene was turned in for testing, and on April 23, a notice from the Combined DNA Index System stated that the evidence pointed to 24-year-old Deandre Harper.

On Oct. 3, a warrant was issued, and Harper was arrested Saturday on one charge of rape. On Monday, a Franklin County Municipal Court judge issued him a $500,000 bond and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Oct. 15.