Victim dragged on ground in Pinole carjacking

(KRON) — A man was left wounded after he was dragged across a street while trying to stop his car from being carjacked in Pinole on Saturday, the Pinole Police Department said. The suspect was arrested in Berkeley after a chase through several cities.

PPD learned of the carjacking at about 2:15 p.m. Saturday when officers responded to the report of a man lying on the ground on the 1500 block of Fitzgerald Drive. He was found in between Best Buy and the building that was formerly K-Mart with cuts and bruises on his body.

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The victim told police that his car had been stolen from the parking lot of Motel 6 on Fitzgerald Drive, and he had been dragged across the street as he reached into the car to try and stop the suspect. The two men had met a few days prior at the motel, the victim said.

The suspect drove off southbound on Appian Way. Two witnesses stopped to help the victim and call 911, police said.

A Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputy spotted the stolen vehicle at about 3:10 p.m. on San Pablo Dam Road near Milton Drive in El Sobrante. Deputies tried to stop the suspect, but he drove off and initiated a chase that went through Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany and Berkeley.

The chase included the suspect running several red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road, police said. He was finally arrested near the intersection of University Avenue and San Pablo Avenue. There were no injuries or collisions during the chase.

The suspect was identified as Franklin Gyurnek, 34, of Tennessee. He was arrested on suspicion of carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon and felony evading.

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