Carjacker Drives Off With Owner Clinging To Hood: Bloomfield PD – Bloomfield, NJ Patch

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — For the second time in a year, an Essex County resident tried to foil a carjacking by leaping onto the hood of a moving vehicle, authorities say.

According to the Bloomfield Police Department, a carjacking took place on Aug. 4 at an apartment complex on Davey Street.

The victim said he saw a man trying to steal his vehicle, which was left running with the keys in the ignition and the door open. When the man tried to drive away, the owner of the car jumped on the hood in an attempt to stop the theft, police said.

The car thief – later identified as Rasheed Hilton, 30, of Bloomfield – then drove towards Belleville Avenue with the owner clinging to the hood of his vehicle, police said.

An off-duty NJ Transit police officer witnessed the incident and called 9-1-1, offering details about the direction the vehicle was headed in, police stated.

Soon afterward, a Bloomfield police officer on duty at a construction site spotted the stolen vehicle as it approached JFK Drive and Belleville Avenue. The officer took up the pursuit and was able to stop the vehicle and arrest Hilton, authorities said.

The owner of the car – who remained on the hood the entire time – wasn’t hurt, police said.

Bloomfield police charged Hilton with carjacking. He was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility.

A similar incident took place in Belleville almost a year ago to the day.

In August 2019, a car owner was seriously injured after he clung to a vehicle’s hood for almost a mile in an attempt to stop a carjacking. Police arrested two Newark residents, 17 and 18, in connection with the theft. They were also accused of committing a separate car theft nearby, authorities said.

According to the Belleville Police Department, the teens allegedly entered a home on Prospect Street around 4 a.m., taking a 2016 Toyota Highlander and the keys to a Toyota RAV4.

The Toyota Highlander was later found “flipped over,” Belleville police said.

The teens – who still had the keys to the RAV4 – returned to the Prospect Avenue home, possibly intending to steal another vehicle, police said. But when the owner of the home spotted them, they fled the scene, authorities said.

The teens then entered another home on High Street and took the keys to a Lincoln MKC. One resident of the home saw them trying to start the car in the driveway, while another rushed outside and tried to block their getaway, jumping onto the hood of the vehicle, police said.

The resident clung to the car for nearly a mile, including a wrong-way trip down Bridge Street. He eventually fell off at Bridge Street near Mill Street and suffered head trauma and a broken collarbone, police said.

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