CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — University Circle Police said they arrested a man Friday after he struck an officer with the passenger door of a car he stole Thursday morning when police stopped him at a gas station on Friday.
It started at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday at University Hospital when a woman left her car running while rushing her husband from the car to the hospital entrance, University Circle Chief of Police James Repicky said. She left the car running, and as she walked her husband to the door, a man jumped in the car and started driving off. She turned around and grabbed the passenger side front door to no avail, and the man took off.
Police were looking for the man and the stolen car all day Thursday.
On Friday morning, a license plate reader alerted police to the presence of the stolen car on Euclid Avenue driving west, Repicky said. University Circle Police officers responded to the location and stopped the car right in front of a gas station.
Officers attempted to block the man in and told him to get out of the car, Repicky said. The man proceeded to back the stolen car up, striking an officer in the hand with the passenger’s side door and another vehicle with another door.
The man then drove onto Euclid Avenue, and police pursued him through East Cleveland, finally catching him and arresting him on Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights, Repicky said. Cleveland Heights Police assisted officers on scene.
The officer who sustained the hand injury was taken to the hospital for safety reasons, Repicky said.
Repicky said the case is still under investigation, and the man who allegedly stole the vehicle is being booked into the county jail.
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