Newly-released police videos show the sequence of events when a man walking on I-5 in Seattle threw a Washington State Patrol trooper to the ground and stole her patrol car on Christmas Day.
The suspect, identified in court filings as 24-year-old Alexander Eugene Smith, told investigators he had smoked meth before the incident.
KOMO News obtained copies of two body-worn cameras and one dash-mounted camera through a public records request this week.
The videos show troopers talking with Smith in the center lanes of I-5 near 85th Street.
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Smith indicated he wanted to walk to his home in Stanwood, and the trooper explained to him that he would not be permitted to walk on the freeway.
After discussing the issue for a few minutes, the troopers convinced Smith to walk to the right shoulder and then walk off the freeway to the Northgate light rail station.
Troopers followed Smith as he walked northbound and then stopped at the off-ramp to Northgate.
He sat on the guardrail for several minutes as troopers offered him a blanket and again pleaded with him to leave the freeway.
As he was walking, Smith suddenly bolted across the off-ramp and again ran into traffic, crossing all lanes of I-5. Responding troopers scrambled to stop traffic as Smith ran between cars.
A Washington State Patrol lieutenant approached Smith and told him to stop.
The video then shows Smith violently pulling the lieutenant from the patrol car, getting in the driver’s seat, and speeding off in the stolen cruiser.
The lieutenant stopped a driver and asked them to call 911.
Other troopers chased the stolen patrol car north into Lynnwood, where it flipped around and went southbound on I-5. Another trooper used a PIT maneuver to spin out the patrol car, then rammed the driver’s door.
Smith was pulled from the car and arrested.
King County prosecutors charged Smith with robbery in the second degree and attempting to elude a police vehicle.
He has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation and is due in court later this month.
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