Elderly disabled man allegedly thrown to ground during Ravenna Township carjacking
A Cleveland man is facing eight felony counts accusing him of throwing an elderly disabled Ravenna Township man to the ground during an armed carjacking outside a store.
Ravenna police said they then pursued the man in the Ford on East Main Street and various side streets and finally caught him after he abandoned the vehicle and apparently tried to escape in a woman's car.
Ezequiel Vasquez, 26, was arraigned Friday in Portage County Common Pleas Court on charges in a grand jury indictment, including first-degree felony aggravated robbery; robbery and assault, both second-degree felonies; robbery, theft, and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, all third-degree felonies; and grand theft and receiving stolen property, both fourth-degree felonies. Some of the charges include a firearm specification.
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The indictment also includes first-degree misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident and second-degree misdemeanor resisting arrest.
According to a Portage County sheriff's report, deputies responded to a report that someone, identified as Vasquez, grabbed a 71-year-old Ravenna Township man from his 2021 Ford Escape and stole the vehicle in the state Route 59 Walmart parking lot at about noon Oct. 27.
The driver nearly struck a man as he drove away, according to the report, which also lists a 78-year-old woman with the same address as the Ravenna Township man as a victim. In a complaint filed previously in Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna, the sheriff's office said the man was disabled and thrown to the ground after he was pulled for the SUV.
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Information about any injuries was unavailable.
According to a Ravenna police report, an officer spotted the Ford in the parking lot of the East Main Street Taco Bell while responding to a report that the SUV had been going through red lights and passing other vehicles. When the officer approached the vehicle on foot, the driver put the vehicle into reverse, forcing the officer to step out of the way. The SUV nearly struck the officer's cruiser and another vehicle before leaving the parking lot.
The Ford went east on East Main and then north on Elm Street, with another officer in pursuit. The pursuit turned east on East Highland Avenue, south on Freedom Street and the Ford struck another vehicle as it turned west onto East Main.
The pursuit then turned south on Walnut Street, west on Maple Lane and north on Myrtle Street back to East Main, where an officer was waiting. The SUV briefly went into a parking lot at Clinton Street, then continued west on East Main and south on Walnut Street. Police said they lost sight of the SUV around Riddle Avenue, but people in the area pointed in the direction the vehicle went to the eaast and police found the SUV abandoned with its engine still running behind PNC Bank on East Main at Pratt Street.
Police said they saw Vasquez walking in front of the CVS store on the other side of Pratt. He refused orders to stop and take his hands out of his pckets, police said, and ran through the Taco Bell parking lot. An officer fired an electric shock device at Vasquez, but missed, the report said.
The foot pursuit contined through the Domino's parking lot and a police K-9 was released to grab him with a bite, but this was unsuccessful.
The report said Vasquez then approached a car in the Walgreen's parking lot with a Ravenna woman in the driver's seat. Vasquez is accused of jumping through the open passenger window and grabbing at the woman. Police officers said they took hold of his leg and arm and tried to pull him out and Vasquez pulled the car's gear shift and the car began to move.
As officers pulled him out, he was given an electric shock, but he still resisted and tried to run. The electric wire wrapped around the leg of an officer, shocking him, but officers were able to get handcuffs onto Vasquez and he was taken to Portage County Jail.
Judge Becky Doherty ordered Vasquez be held on a $500,000 bond. He is scheduled for a jury trial on Jan. 10.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna Twp. carjacking leads to indictment of Cleveland man
