UPDATED: Pretrial Hearing Nears for Man Charged with Violent Offenses

UPDATED, Friday, 3:00 p.m. The pretrial hearing of James Christopher Cross was continued until August 17 in Department C-29 of the Santa Ana Superior Court building. As a result, the start of the jury trial was rescheduled for December 4 in Department C-5 of the courthouse.

A 34-year-old Mission Viejo man who is accused of carjacking an SUV with a toddler and dog in the back seat, then running over the foot of the boy's pregnant mother and bailing out of the vehicle while it was still moving, will appear in Santa Ana Superior Court on Friday at 9 a.m. for a pretrial hearing.

if convicted of one count each of carjacking, kidnapping during a carjacking, child abuse, child stealing, second-degree vehicle burglary, first-degree robbery, aggravated assault, hit-and-run with injury and vandalism of more than $400, as well as two counts of first-degree residential burglary.

Corr also is charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer, with sentence-enhancing allegations for a prior conviction in Nevada for leaving the scene of an accident in 2007.

The incident occurred Oct. 15, when Corr allegedly broke into a Honda Accord parked in a lot in front of a business in Aliso Viejo and stole the victim’s purse and its content, including credit cards. He then fled the scene and, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office, ran into a nearby neighborhood where the victim, identified only as Suzanne C., was preparing to leave her home in her SUV with her 2-year-old son and St. Bernard aboard.

As Susanne C. walked back inside to get her son’s sippy cup, authorities say, Corr got into the driver’s seat of the car and used the keys that were left on the driver’s seat started to back out. The victim, who was eight months' pregnant, attempted to remove her son from his car seat through the open door, but the defendant backed out of the garage and knocked Suzanne C. to the ground with the SUV and ran over her foot, prosecutors say.

In his haste, authorities say, Corr crashed into the door frame and a neighbor’s garage, causing the open rear door to break and hang off, then fled the scene with the 2-year-old in the back. A neighbor who witnessed the carjacking and kidnapping followed the defendant in her own car.

Corr is accused of speeding and driving erratically before jumping out of the moving vehicle. The car with the child and dog inside ran into a curb and hit a tree before coming to a stop. Corr was then apprehended by sheriff’s deputies after failing to break into another house.

A jury trial could begin as soon as July 31, depending on the outcome of the pretrial hearing Friday, according to the D.A.’s office.