Repo man run over while trying to claim car in El Segundo

Stephen Jimenez has been charged with attempted murder. Photo courtesy ESPD

Stephen Jimenez has been charged with attempted murder. Photo courtesy ESPD

A man whose 1999 Mercedes was being repossessed has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly ran over the man trying to claim his car last week in El Segundo.

Stephen Jimenez, 33, was apparently behind in his loan payments when a representative from a finance company arrived to take the car. As the man attempted to gain entry to the car, Jimenez hiding within emerged from the car, took the wheel, and allegedly attempted to run the man over. Jimenez then reportedly drove three blocks at speeds witnesses estimated to be between 40 and 50 mph with the man clinging to the hood of the car.

El Segundo Police Department Lt. Raymond Garcia said that officers responded to a report of an accident and possible hit and run on Dec. 11 at 1:54 p.m. near the area of El Segundo Boulevard and Main Street.

“Our officers quickly understood it wasn’t a vehicle accident but the driver intentionally drove off with our victim on the hood of his car,” Garcia said. “What appeared to have happened is our victim was in the process of repossessing the vehicle… When he located it, the driver of the vehicle was laying down in the car and he didn’t see him. The driver sat up in the car, drove it over the victim, who held on to the car side view mirror and yelled that he was repossessing the car.”

Witnesses reported that Jimenez drove three city blocks at high speeds, jerking the driving wheel in attempts to throw the repossessor off the car. The man finally lost his grip and tumbled on the street, suffering what Garcia described as “significant injuries and burns.” He was transported to a local hospital as police searched for the car, which within a few hours was located, without the driver, in a parking facility in Manhattan Beach. As police conducted surveillance on the vehicle, Jiminez returned to it and was arrested without further incident. He was booked on attempted murder and felony hit and run and held on $500,000 bail.

“This person is not new to the criminal justice system,” Garcia said. “He has quite a record. He is not your typical model citizen… it’s a multiple page rap sheet.”

The victim, who was not identified, was released from the hospital the following day. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call ESPD detective Eric Atkinson at 310-524-2216.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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