The suspect in an alleged carjacking in Bowling Green has been identified as Michael McCurdy, 34, of Bowling Green. As of Friday morning, he was still in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo.
McCurdy has been charged with attempted grand theft of a motor vehicle, robbery, and failure to comply with the order of a police officer.
Bowling Green Police reportedly interrupted the carjacking Wednesday (Oct. 8) evening.
At approximately 7:12 p.m., a Bowling Green Police officer came upon a vehicle stopped in the roadway on East Poe Road near North Prospect Street. The driver’s door appeared to be cracked open, and the officer reportedly heard a female voice say, “Please help me.”
At about this same time, the police division received a 911 call from another person who had been a victim of an attempted carjacking in the same area. That report was broadcast to officers.
The driver of the vehicle stopped on Poe Road was ordered by police to exit the vehicle and did so. The driver stated she needed help and that the male passenger had entered her car without permission.
The suspected carjacker then reportedly got into the driver’s seat and refused commands to exit the vehicle. The vehicle then fled eastbound on East Poe at a high rate of speed. By time the car came off the Poe Road overpass at Interstate 75, it had reached a speed of 120 mph, according to the police report.
The driver struck one vehicle at the Dunbridge Road stop sign, which then hit another vehicle at the intersection.
The driver of the stolen vehicle was unresponsive, and was removed by police when the vehicle began smoking. He was transported to St. Vincent’s Mercy Medical Center in Toledo by ambulance. One occupant from another vehicle was transported to St. Vincent’s with non-life threatening injuries. Two other occupants were transported to the Wood County Hospital with minor injuries.
The name of the unarmed suspect has not been released.
The driver who reported the first attempted carjacking was at Rally’s on North Main Street when the suspect approached and allegedly said “give me a ride or I’m stealing your car.” The driver attempted to roll up the car windows and lock the doors, when the suspect reportedly reached in and grabbed the steering wheel.
The driver told police he put the car in reverse and floored it to get away.
The next driver, who got out of her car on Poe Road, told police she was stopped at the red light at North Main Street and Poe Road, when the suspect approached her car. As she tried to drive away, the suspect reportedly hung onto her vehicle, then climbed through a window into the car.
This incident remains under investigation.
