KENNER – A Metairie man is behind bars after he intentionally ran over a man he had been fighting with outside a Kenner restaurant.
Thirty-one-year-old Jose Mejia-Juarez faces charges of second degree battery with injury, hit-and-run driving with injury, and driving without a license, according to the Kenner Police Department.
Mejia-Juarez was arguing with an unidentified 46-year-old man shortly after 2 a.m. on November 27 outside El Noa Noa Restaurant and Bar on Williams Boulevard when things began to get violent.
Mejia-Juarez pushed the victim to the ground and punched him several times before getting into his vehicle to drive away.
The victim, who was still on the ground, pulled out his cellphone in an attempt to take a picture of Mejia-Juarez’s licence plate.
Mejia-Juarez backed his car toward the victim, but the victim was able to get out of the path of the vehicle.
After that narrow escape, Mejia-Juarez put his car in drive and intentionally took aim at the victim, running him down before driving away, according to the KPD.
The victim was admitted to University Hospital with a compound fracture to the right leg, broken ribs, and facial and head lacerations.
He remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Officers arrested Mejia-Juarez when he returned to the scene of the crime.
The immigration status of Mejia-Juarez, who Kenner Police say is from Honduras, is currently under investigation.
Kenner Police Chief Michael J. Glaser urges anyone who may have witnessed this incident to call Kenner Police Officer Ismael Cornejo at 712-2222, or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.