MEDINA, Ohio — What happened to a Medina County man at a gas station in Granger Township continues to haunt him weeks after a terrifying carjacking incident.
The victim spoke to News 5 but didn't want to be identified as the Medina County Sheriff's Office continues to look for leads in the case.
"I'm taken aback by the evil and the darkness in the world and the hate; why people do things like that?" the 72-year-old said.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 at Petro USA on Ridge Road near I-271.
The senior citizen had just finished pumping gas when a group of strangers approached him outside his blue Mitsubishi Outlander and asked for the time. That turned out to be a distraction technique for the criminals.
Moments after the victim looked in his car to glimpse at his clock, one of the robbers lunged for the driver's keys.
The senior fought back, and there was a struggle over the keys. At one point, the victim said he heard one of the other robbers yell, 'Just shoot him!'"
"It's just a miracle that I wasn't hit, stabbed, shot or anything," the victim said.
While the wrestling over the keys continued, a second robber slammed a door on the victim's leg, according to Detective Keith Curtin.
A short time later, five people— believed to be four men and one woman— jumped in the SUV and took off, heading north on I-271.
Curtin said the victim suffered some scratches and bruises, but things could have ended much worse.
"I think it's one of the worst crimes that you can have, crimes against the elderly. The man was willing to help him, and they just took his car," Curtin said.
About 11 hours after the carjacking, the victim's vehicle was found abandoned and wrecked along the New Jersey Turnpike. Curtin believes the group was involved in a hit-skip, and they remain on the loose.
The carjacking wasn't the only crime the robbers committed, according to investigators.
Curtin said surveillance video from World Truck Towing and Recovery on Ridge Road shows them trying to set an Audi— stolen out of Columbus— on fire.
The car didn't catch fire, and the carjacking at the nearby gas station took place a short time later.
"They didn't care what was going to happen," Curtin said.
Detectives don't know if the carjackers are from the area, but they're looking for any tips from the community that could identify them.
In the meantime, the senior remains very shaken. He said he's struggling mentally for more than two weeks after the carjacking.
"I have called Victim's Assistance a couple of times just to get a little counsel because it's just what happens afterwards. It just leaves you just violated."
Anyone with information on the crime should contact the Medina County Sheriff's Office detective bureau at 330-725-9116.
