CLEVELAND (WJW) – One man is behind bars after police say he tried to steal a car with the owner clinging to the driver’s side door.
Surveillance video showed the man trying to steal a car at the Shell gas station in the 2400 block of Denison Avenue in Cleveland Friday night.
“It was shocking,” said manager Zaid Odetallah.
Odetallah said the man jumped into a Jeep Grand Cherokee parked at pump five while the owner was inside the store.
“It’s kind of crazy when you think about leaving your car at the pump and you can’t take your eye off it for two seconds without someone hopping in,” said Odetallah.
Video shows the woman running to the driver’s side door and trying to pull him out. That’s when the man hit the gas, dragging her alongside it.
The car drove through the fence and immediately rammed a truck on Pearl Road.
At the same time, a Cleveland police officer just to happened to be sitting at a red light at the intersection and watched it all go down.
Police reports said the suspect, 37-year-old Eric Serrano of Old Brooklyn, tried to run but the officer caught him and placed him under arrest.
“He was there at the right place at the right time,” said Odetallah.
Employees say Serrano is a local and is known to hang out around the gas station.
Odetallah said the victim suffered severe head injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, he’s reminding his customers to lock their car doors and never keep the car running.
“We hear a lot about people stealing cars, but this is the first time we’ve seen it firsthand,” said Odetallah.
