Ponca City man accused of strangling cashier

PONCA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – A man is in jail, accused of strangling a gas station cashier with a cord. Luciano Cerda was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The suspect, Cerda, was seen hanging around the Conoco gas station at 425 S. 14th street for several days before the incident.

According to court documents, the cashier told police he was acting “very aggressive towards our staff.”

So the last time he walked in, she told him to leave if he was going to be rude.

“He actually did walk up to her and say he was going to cause problems,” said Capt. Kevin Jeffries with the Ponca City Police Department.

That’s when Cerda allegedly got angry and “began to pull items off of the counter and throw the items onto the floor.”

The cashier told him to leave again, and then went to pick up the items, at which point he allegedly attacked her.

“The cord with the card reader, he ended up wrapping that around the cashier’s neck and trying to choke her,” Capt. Jeffries said.

She said she tried to kick and elbow him until she was finally able to break free.

She escaped with a red mark that wrapped around the front of her neck.

Cerda fled, but was picked up a few hours later while he was walking in the road.

“I think there may have been some mental illness things going on there at the time he was arrested,” Capt. Jeffries said.

He is being held on a $250,000 bond.