ELYRIA – When she saw the screaming man in the street running after her car around 4 a.m. Sunday, April DeJesus panicked.

Attempting to escape, DeJesus said she tried to put her car in reverse and broke the handle off her gear shifter, leaving her car stuck as the man closed in near the intersection of Abbe Road and Cleveland Street.

Comrie

“He was screaming a bunch of stuff, but I was scared to death. I have no idea what he was saying,” DeJesus said Sunday evening. “I had an idea what he was going to do. Everything was locked up and I was panicking.”

DeJesus, a 38-year-old city resident, said she decided to make a run for it and headed to the Sunoco station at 645 Cleveland St. with the man in pursuit.

“I’m thinking, ‘I don’t care what happens to my car. I can’t move it,’ ” she said. “I’m just fearing for my life.”

The station clerk locked the doors when DeJesus made it inside and called police, according to an Elyria police report.

The man, identified by police as Steven Comrie, of Elyria, then ran away from the station and jumped into the passenger seat of a car driven by Christopher Taylor, according to the report. Taylor, who was stopped at the intersection of Cleveland Street and South Abbe Road, told police the man acted like he was carrying a pistol and ordered him to drive to the Speedway station at 905 E. Broad St. at South Abbe Road.

“The guy was just mumbling and kept screaming, ‘Are you paying attention?! Are you paying attention?! Are you paying attention?’ almost the whole ride,” Taylor said in an interview. “I couldn’t tell if he was making a threat or what was going on.”

Taylor, 29, of Elyria, said he drove to the FirstMerit Bank at South Abbe Road near the Speedway, where the man got out of the car then ran when he heard police sirens.

Police said they arrested Comrie without incident in the parking lot of the McDonald’s restaurant at 1010 E. Broad St. Comrie, 31, of the 100 block of Hawthorne Street, is known to police. He was charged with abduction and robbery.

He has an extensive criminal record including convictions for cocaine possession, resisting arrest and trespassing. Comrie is due in Elyria Municipal Court this morning and was being held at Lorain County Jail on Sunday night in lieu of a $20,000 bond.

DeJesus said she is confident Comrie will be found guilty and hopes he gets a long sentence.

“He was just out of control,” she said. “It was bad.”

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.

AMHERST TWP. – The driver of a car that crashed around 3 a.m. Sunday on state Route 2 and Oberlin Road east of state Route 58 was critically injured.

Ledonrick Pentorn, 24, of Sandusky, was in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland on Sunday evening. A driver said Pentorn passed her at a high rate of speed before veering right and then veering left, according to Trooper Joe Glascox of the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Elyria post.

Pentorn drove down a median, striking a drainage culvert and a concrete barrier. Pentorn was conscious and smelled of alcohol when he was extricated from his car by firefighters, Glascox said. Glascox said police will seek a subpoena for a blood test given to Pentorn to determine whether he was driving drunk.

It’s that time again.

The Indians needed offense at the July 31 trading deadline and instead got pitching in heralded right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez. Not knocking the Jimenez move or saying it was a great one, just stating the facts here folks.

I will say that trading for Jimenez was a deal geared toward the future and not the NOW, which showed the Indians in contention for a Central Division title — 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers heading into Saturday night’s showdown at Detroit’s Comerica Park.

Well, right NOW, Tribe fans, this team needs some offense to stay in the race — again.

An inconsistent lineup at best was damaged further by the loss of rookie second baseman Jason Kipnis, who is out for three weeks with an injured hamstring that he sustained while stretching before a game??????????

Though it was a brief spell, Kipnis looked as though he was en route to establishing himself as an everyday big league player — one that could help the Indians in their playoff push and into the postseason, much like All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera did in 2007.

The loss of Kipnis has caused general manager Chris Antonetti to change his focus as he searches for a bat or two in his last opportunity to improve the club with a waiver trade prior to the Aug. 31 deadline.

Instead of looking for offense at the corner infield spots or even in the outfield, Antonetti must consider finding a replacement at second base, if the Indians don’t feel Jason Donald can pull his weight.

Antonetti added a nice complimentary piece at the trading deadline in outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, but though the Asian import has been solid, he isn’t nearly enough in the offensive department, where the Indians need reinforcements at whatever position it comes from.

It isn’t coming from the minors – they’ve tried pretty much every player down there to this point, save veteran first baseman Nick Johnson, who is barely hitting his weight at Triple-A Columbus.

And though the Indians keep saying he will return, it’s not coming from Grady Sizemore, who isn’t expected back before the last half of the final month of the season, and can’t be counted on to make an impact anyway.

It is pretty clear that with the addition of Jimenez, who admittedly has looked bad in two of his three starts since being acquired in a trade from the Rockies, and a top-shelf bullpen, the Indians have enough pitching to contend for a division title and maybe even win a postseason series or two.

But pitching can’t keep carrying the Indians. The offense has to start contributing in more than a couple of games per week or the quality performances from the rotation and relief corps will be wasted.

It already has. The Indians have had some of the best pitching in the American League and it was good for a second-place standing in the worst division in baseball.

Cleveland needs offense, and it’s Antonetti’s job to find it. That’s the only thing that’s going to save this ship of holes.

It figures

Did you see what Drew Pomeranz did in his first start for Colorado’s organization?

Cleveland’s No. 1 draft pick last year, who was traded for Jimenez along with another first-rounder in Alex White, took a perfect game into the seventh inning of his debut for Double-A Tulsa, finishing the debut outing with seven scoreless frames while allowing just two hits.

When they traded Pomeranz and White for Jimenez, the Indians decided a proven commodity was more valuable than two possible future ones, and I can’t blame them.

While both first-rounders appear destined to pitch out of a major league rotation, there is no guarantee with either. White is already dealing with a finger issue and Pomeranz is no reincarnation of Stephen Strasburg.

Jimenez is a frontline starter for the Indians over the next two years and that’s something neither White nor Pomeranz could boast.

Power poll

1. Philadelphia Phillies: These guys have sat atop of this list since the start of the season and will more than likely finish it there.

2. Boston Red Sox: The best team in the American League is about to reclaim the top spot in the East — arguably the toughest division in baseball.

3. New York Yankees: Always dangerous and almost always there in the end, the Yanks have overcome a wealth of injuries to key components.

4. Milwaukee Brewers: The Brew Crew, with Zack Greinke aboard this year, has all but locked up a title in the tough NL Central.

5. Texas Rangers: The defending AL champs are getting hot again, putting some distance between themselves and their competition in the West.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

DETROIT – With a weekend sweep in Detroit, the Cleveland Indians would have been back in first place Sunday afternoon.

That’s now impossible after Detroit’s 4-1 win Friday night, but the Indians aren’t discouraged even though they now trail the Tigers by 2½ games.

“With the way they’re playing, the way we’re playing, and even the way the White Sox are playing, this wasn’t going to be decided in the next couple days,” Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin said.

Tomlin (12-6) didn’t allow a runner into scoring position in the first five innings, then gave up three homers in the next 1 2/3 innings.

“I was happy with the way I threw in the first five innings, but after that I have to make better pitches,” he said. “They were all just mistakes.”

The Indians couldn’t do anything against Detroit’s pitching, scoring their only run on a wild pitch. Max Scherzer (13-7) allowed one run, five hits and a walk while throwing a career-high 127 pitches.

“Tomlin gave us an opportunity to win the game, but we couldn’t do anything against Scherzer,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “We just couldn’t score any runs.”

Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde finished, with the latter pitching the ninth for his 36th save in as many opportunities. Valverde was coming off Wednesday’s loss to the Twins in which he allowed two ninth-inning runs in a tie game.

The Tigers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Raburn hit a one-out single and Austin Jackson followed with his sixth homer.

“For the rest of our season, Austin has to be the catalyst for our offense,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “It’s great if he runs into one like he did tonight, but we need him to get on base.”

Cleveland got a run back in the seventh. Carlos Santana led off the inning with a single, and after Scherzer struck out the next two hitters, Lonnie Chisenhall beat out an infield grounder when first baseman Miguel Cabrera’s throw pulled Scherzer off the bag. Santana took third on the play and scored on a wild pitch.

The Indians, though, never got another baserunner.

“It was a well-pitched game for both sides,” Acta said. “Just especially for them.”

Detroit made it 4-1 in their half of the inning. Alex Avila, catching for the 13th straight game because of Victor Martinez’s sore knee, hit a two-out, 400-foot homer, and Jhonny Peralta hit the next pitch for his 18th homer.

Notable

The Indians juggled their roster before the game, placing INF Jason Kipnis (hamstring) on the DL and sending OF Ezequiel Carrera to Triple-A Columbus. To replace them, the Indians recalled OF Shelley Duncan and INF Luis Valbuena from Columbus.

• The game drew a sellout crowd of 44,222, the biggest since 44,799 attended the home opener against Kansas City.

• The Tigers announced before the game that RHP Al Alburquerque (concussion) will be out for at least another 10 days. Alburquerque was eligible to come off the 7-day concussion DL on Friday.

• After the game, the Tigers called up INF Brandon Inge from Toledo and sent down OF Andy Dirks. Inge is expected to platoon with Wilson Betemit at third base.