MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio — New video released to 3News shows the moment when five people carjacked a 72-year-old man at a gas station on Ridge Road (SR 94) near I-271 in Medina County.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. December 1.
According to Detective Keith Curtin with the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, the suspects, believed to be four men and one woman, walked to the Petro USA where the victim was getting gas. One of the suspects approached the man asking for the time. The victim went into his car and came back out to continue talking to the suspect. That suspect grabbed the victim’s keys, getting into a “tussle” with the 72-year-old.
Curtin says once the keys were stolen, all five suspects got into the man’s 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander and drove off.
“This elderly man, he was trying to help what he believed (was) somebody that needed some help,” Detective Curtin told 3News. “They didn't care what the price was, they were going to take that car and they were going to leave.”
Curtin says before the carjacking, the suspects were caught on camera at a location near the gas station trying to set an Audi on fire. The Audi was stolen from Columbus.
Curtin believes the Medina County carjacking is an isolated incident.
“Our victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Curtin explained. “I think it would have been anybody that was there. I think they were looking to get a vehicle to get out of there. I'm hoping that we can get these guys identified and bring them to justice.”
Authorities later found the victim’s car abandoned in New Jersey after the Outlander was involved in an accident.
Curtin says investigators do not have a solid description of the suspects and are not sure if they are from Columbus, Northeast Ohio, or New Jersey.
Investigators are hoping to get better images of the suspects from when they were seen in New Jersey near where the victim’s car was abandoned.
If you have any information about this case, please call the Detective Bureau at the Medina County Sheriff’s Office at 330-725-9116.