1 arrested,1 injured in carjacking near West Toledo bar

Man in skeleton mask took vehicle, police say

3/1/2014

A man in a skeleton mask carjacked a woman at knifepoint behind a West Toledo bar on Thursday night, took police on a pursuit in the stolen vehicle, and seriously injured a pedestrian when the suspect drove up on the sidewalk, police said.

Police charged Ronald Neipp, 52, of 505 Selma St. with aggravated robbery, felonious assault, failure to comply with a police officer, and resisting arrest. He was arraigned in Toledo Municipal Court on Friday and remains in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $200,000 bond.

The West Toledo bar where the carjacking was reported has twice been robbed by a knife-wielding man — on Jan. 21 and Feb. 25.

Police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said detectives were looking into the possibility that the carjacking and robberies could be related.

Kristine Hennessey, 36, of Toledo told police she was parking her car behind J&D’s Side Trip bar, 1534 W. Sylvania Ave., at 10:23 p.m.

She told police she was still in the driver’s seat when a man wearing a skeleton mask and carrying a “very large hunting knife” walked up and said, “Gimmie all you got,” according to a police report.

“Are you serious?” Ms. Hennessey asked, thinking that because of two recent armed robberies there that the man was playing a joke, the report states.

“Yes I’m serious,” the masked man said.

The victim told the man she only had a credit card and he demanded she move to the passenger seat.

She complied and the suspect got in the car.

A second man approached, asked what the suspect was doing, saw the knife, and backed away.

As the suspect started to drive away, Ms. Hennessey got out of the car.

Shortly after the robbery was reported, police saw someone driving Ms. Hennessey’s Dodge Durango and wound up in a pursuit.

During the pursuit, Dwayne Smith, a pedestrian who was on the sidewalk, was struck by the Durango and was seriously injured, police said.

The Durango eventually crashed into a car parked in the 4100 block of Kingsbury Ave. The suspect got out and was arrested, police said.

Mr. Smith was initially listed in serious condition in Toledo Hospital, but has since been released.

Ms. Hennessey did not return a call seeking comment.

Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.