Police say Cleveland man found with 15-year-old runaway assaulted, dragged Harmar cops

Harmar police officers who were searching for a 15-year-old runaway from Ohio on Friday accused the man she was with of assaulting and dragging them with his vehicle when they tried to take him into custody in a motel parking lot.

Perry Jarome Pierre Williams, 19, of Maryland Avenue in Cleveland was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle along with one count of fleeing from police, which are all felonies. He also was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of resisting arrest and reckless driving.

Williams was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond to await a preliminary hearing before District Judge David Sosovicka on Monday, according to court records.

According to a criminal complaint, shortly before midnight Thursday, police in Twinsburg, Ohio, asked Harmar police to do a welfare check on a 15-year-old girl who had left the state with Williams.

Police in Ohio said Williams was being charged with interference with the custody of a child and related offenses, the complaint said.

A short time later, officers from Harmar spotted Williams’ vehicle in the parking lot of Alexander’s Athletic Club on Freeport Road, but he jumped from the back seat into the driver’s seat and drove off, police said.

Police started to chase Williams but stopped because of safety concerns and notified 911 dispatchers to put out an alert for the Nissan Sentra he was driving, according to the complaint.

Shortly after 4 a.m., Twinsburg police notified officers in Harmar that the girl’s cellphone “pinged” in the area near the Sheetz convenience store, the complaint said.

Harmar police said they found the car backed into a parking space at the Hampton Inn and pulled in front of the car to block it.

But when they tried to pull Williams out of the driver’s seat, he resisted, turned on the ignition and pulled away, dragging the officers with him, the complaint said.

Williams hit the patrol vehicle and another nearby vehicle as he tried to maneuver out of the blocked parking spot, police said.

One of the officers trying to arrest Williams used pepper spray, but the chemical irritant had no effect, according to the complaint.

Police said they were able to take Williams into custody after they used a stun gun to disable him. The officers suffered multiple bruises during the struggle, the complaint said.

As he was being taken into custody, Williams asked police to “just (expletive) kill me; I’m not going to jail. They’re going to put me in jail for 20 years for what the (expletive) I did,” according to the complaint.