KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — When a man allegedly began knocking on a woman's car window early Thursday morning while she was stopped at a red light in Knoxville, she rolled her window down and he tried to take the wheel, Knox County court records reveal.
That encounter supposedly ended with the man being dragged down Broadway before investigators said he was charged with carjacking.
The woman was stopped at the intersection of Broadway and Knox Road in the Fountain City area when Ricardo Bryant, 25, allegedly approached her driver side window, those records said.
He began to knock on the window. When she rolled it down, he grabbed the steering wheel, the report said.
She hit him, trying to break her steering wheel free and then began to accelerate as he tried to steer the car towards the curb, according to court records.
He lost his balance and, the report said, was dragged alongside the car until he let go.
Police officers responded to the scene at approximately 4:30 a.m. Thursday and found Bryant at the same intersection "approaching several vehicles and causing them to swerve outside of the roadway to get away from him," court records said.
Bryant had injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to UT Medical Center. He could not give "an accurate statement recalling the events that had occurred," investigators said.
Bryant was granted a $50,000 bond for the carjacking charge, however, he is currently being held without bond in Knox County Jail because his bond was denied on a previous aggravated burglary charge from earlier this year.
He is set to appear in court on Wednesday at 9 a.m. on the aggravated burglary charge. A preliminary hearing on the carjacking charge is set for July 3 at 9 a.m.