Kidnapping suspect crawled out of woman’s trunk, punched and threatened her: court docs

HARRISON, Ohio (WXIX) - A 40-year-old Hamilton County man is under arrest on several violent felony charges after he was accused of hiding in the trunk of a woman’s car and crawling out after she drove off, attacking her and kidnapping her at gunpoint.

Court records allege it happened in Harrison on Thursday.

The suspect, Jarrod Rodriguez, was arrested and booked into the jail that afternoon. He was held overnight without bond and made his initial court appearance in the case on Friday morning.

His bond was set at $250,000 on charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, assault and aggravated menacing, court records show.

Police wrote in an affidavit he climbed into the trunk of the victim’s unlocked car while it was parked on North Jefferson Street.

“I was on my way to school and I got into my car and onto the highway, and he had hid in the hatchback. He was waiting for me,” the woman said Monday. “He jumped in the front seat and started beating me. I didn’t know he was in my car.”

She says Rodriguez is her ex-boyfriend and that they split a few months ago.

“We were fighting,” she said. “We’ve been fighting. I was going to file a restraining order on him today.”

Once the victim drove off and was on the ramp from New Haven Road to eastbound Interstate 74, he climbed out of the trunk and into her passenger seat, according to court records.

He “struck the victim with a closed fist in the right side of her face, made the victim believe he was going to kill her by pulling a black handgun and a knife out of his backpack, putting the gun to the victim’s right side of her body and telling her she ‘had two hours to change his mind’,” police wrote.

“He then ordered her to drive faster and told her where to go, all while holding the gun to her side,” the affidavit continues. “Mr. Rodriguez then told her he would shoot her up with enough heroin to make her overdose,” the affidavit states.

Police say she pulled the vehicle over on the exit ramp to Rybolt Road and got out.

“Mr. Rodriguez then go out with the gun and knife and attempted to get her back in the vehicle,” police wrote in the court document.

“Several witnesses called 911 and reported a male, armed with a gun, hitting the female trying to get her back into the vehicle,” the affidavit continues.

The victim got away from him and walked to a gas station on Rybolt Road, according to police.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, drove off in her vehicle without her permission, the court records states.

Rodriguez was arrested once before in Hamilton County on a violent charge, domestic violence.

He was accused of pushing his wife and the mother of his four children into a wall in March 2018, another affidavit states.

The charge was dropped a few months later because a witness didn’t appear to testify, court, court officials tell FOX19 NOW.

More recently, Rodriguez was charged last year with misdemeanor drug possession (methamphetamine) and receiving stolen property, court records show.

Both of those charges also ultimately were dismissed or ignored.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2022 WXIX. All rights reserved.