Officers discovered Alexander Eugene Smith walking along Interstate 5 in Seattle on Christmas Day. Police tried to help the man, who later admitted he had been smoking meth. Smith repaid them by violently stealing a patrol car and leading officers on a high-speed chase.

In body camera footage, troopers repeatedly asked Smith to stop walking on the highway. He eventually sat down on a guardrail. Officers offered him a blanket and urged him to leave the roadway voluntarily. At first, Smith appeared to calm down. Then he suddenly jumped up.

Officer knocked down before patrol car theft

Smith ran across multiple lanes of active traffic. Officers shouted commands for him to stop. When he ignored them, police blocked traffic instead.

Smith approached a lieutenant’s patrol car. She opened her door to speak with him. Smith grabbed the officer, threw her to the ground, and sped away in her patrol vehicle.

Police quickly assisted the injured lieutenant and pursued Smith. He exited I-5 and attempted to reenter the highway. Once traffic cleared, an officer performed a PIT maneuver, spinning the stolen patrol car off the road. Officers arrested Smith at the scene.

Body camera footage of the incident is embedded below: