Man, 56, Dragged by Pickup Truck

A 56-year-old La Mesa man was injured Wednesday when he was dragged several hundred feet while trying to retrieve the keys from a pickup truck he said had been stolen from him, police said.

Joseph Glen Mehuron was treated for cuts and scrapes after the driver of the truck released him and sped down Friars Road near Mission Center Road, San Diego Police Sgt. Billy Clem said. Police are investigating the incident as a case of assault with a deadly weapon.

According to Clem, Mehuron’s pickup truck had been stolen in La Mesa early in the day. When he saw a truck that he believed was his outside the Seven Seas Hotel on Hotel Circle about 3:30 p.m., Mehuron chased the truck and driver, and tried to stop them.

When the truck ran onto a bank at Mission Center and Friars roads, Mehuron reached in the driver’s window in an attempt to grab the keys from the ignition, Clem said. But the driver grabbed Mehuron by the shoulder and accelerated to 30 m.p.h. before releasing him, the officer reported.