A motorist sped for several blocks of South Beretania Street yesterday morning with her ex-boyfriend on top of her car before crashing into the side of a building.

The 46-year-old driver had obtained a restraining order against the ex-boyfriend on Monday, police said. After the crash, she was hospitalized with serious injuries.

The man, 44, was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition but was downgraded to critical, according to Maj. Richard Robinson, head of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Police had tried to serve the restraining order against the man, Robinson said. "They were unsuccessful in locating him and serving him."

The incident began in the parking lot of the Beretania Street branch of Times Super Market shortly before 9 a.m. The vehicle left the parking lot with the man on top, but it was unclear whether he was on the car when it began moving, Robinson said.

The car made its way Ewa-bound on Beretania, crossing all five lanes in the process, crossed Ward Avenue and then smashed into the mauka side of the First Insurance Building.

Labeled as an attempted murder case against the woman, the investigation is "likely to be reclassified" based on newer information obtained by police, he said. He declined to provide specifics.

"Both of them are still in the hospital so we haven’t had a chance to speak to either one of them to clarify what took place," he said.

Lupe Funaki, a clerk at the Circle K convenience store across Beretania Street from the scene, said she saw the man on top of the car as it sped across Ward Avenue and crashed into the building.

It appeared the man was pinned between the building and the car, Funaki said.

"He was trying to stop her," said Funaki, who described the scene as frightening.