Man attempts to steal car as owner clings to door, launching her into air and sending her to hospital, police say

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A suspected carjacker sent a Cleveland woman to the hospital after he jumped into her SUV at a Brooklyn Centre gas station and sped off while she hung from the door, prosecutors allege.

The car quickly crashed, sending the 27-year-old woman to the ground, according to a Cleveland police officer who witnessed the incident and arrested the man after he tried to flee. The woman suffered a severe head laceration and was rushed to the hospital.

Eric Serrano, 37, of the city’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, was charged Saturday in Cleveland Municipal Court with aggravated robbery. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge on Tuesday ordered him detained on a $50,000 bond. His case was assigned to the county public defender’s office, but no attorney is listed.

Police say that on Friday, shortly after 5 p.m., Serrano jumped into a Jeep Grand Cherokee parked at the Sunoco gas station at 2424 Denison Ave. while the car’s owner was in the store. The victim saw Serrano inside her Jeep, ran toward him and tried to pull him out of the car, according to a police officer who reviewed store surveillance footage.

As the woman clung to the door, Serrano pressed the gas while trying to knock her to the ground by hitting and pushing her, she later told police.

As this was transpiring, a Cleveland police officer happened to be sitting at the intersection adjacent to the gas station. He watched the Jeep travel at a high rate of speed through the intersection and strike a pickup truck. When the officer saw the body sailing toward the pavement, he initially thought it belonged to a passenger ejected through the window, the officer said in a police report.

After striking the ground, the bloody victim ran to the officer frantically yelling, “That man was stealing my car!” according to the report. Serrano tried to run away, but the officer caught up before he could go far and placed him under arrest, the report said.

The victim’s head injury was so severe that her skull was visible, the officer observed.

During Serrano’s initial arraignment, prosecutors noted that he had an open case against him, stemming from a November indictment involving charges of aggravated theft and breaking and entering. Serrano failed to show up to two court hearings, prompting a judge to order his arrest on Dec. 28.