Lawrence man thrown from speeding vehicle, arrested after North Lawrence dispute

A 24-year-old Lawrence man was booked into Douglas County Jail after an argument in North Lawrence ended with his clinging to, and later falling from, a vehicle that had reached speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.

The man, Eric Christopher Fernandez, was booked into Douglas County Jail on suspicion of aggravated battery Wednesday evening after Lawrence police arrested him in the 700 block of Second Street.

According to Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman, officers responded to a disturbance in the 900 block of North Second Street before 10 p.m. Wednesday. During the altercation, McKinley said, Fernandez struck an unidentified victim in the face, causing significant facial injuries.

McKinley said the victim then entered a vehicle and began leaving the lot, but Fernandez clung to the vehicle near the driver’s door and continued to hang on as the vehicle proceeded south on North Second Street. Witnesses told police that the vehicle traveled without headlights and reached a speed of about 40 mph before Fernandez fell onto the roadway. McKinley said a nearby motorist stopped to check on Fernandez while another followed the vehicle from which he fell, providing location updates to emergency dispatchers. Officers caught up to the victim near Iowa Street and Peterson Road and an ambulance was summoned, McKinley said. Fernandez meanwhile declined medical treatment, McKinley said, but suffered “obvious superficial injuries at a minimum.”