Alexander Smith, 24, was walking along I-5 on Christmas Day when troopers tried to get him off the road in a peaceable way, including talking to him, offering to drive him to a light rail station and pay for his fare, and finally escorting the defendant so that he could walk to an interstate exit while they followed behind in their patrol cars," according to new charging documents.
King County prosecutors charged the Stanwood man Tuesday with carjacking a Washington State Patrol trooper's unmarked patrol car.
A State Patrol lieutenant stopped to talk to Smith around 12:30 p.m. near North 85th Street. According to the charges, he then pulled her out of her unmarked gray car, threw her to the ground and got into the driver's seat before locking the door.
Smith sped off in the car, with the emergency lights still flashing, according to the charges. Troopers pursued him for about 8 miles to Lynnwood, where they tried a PIT maneuver to get him to spin out. But Smith reportedly turned to drive on the wrong side of the freeway to avoid being stopped.
"The defendant was finally stopped after a pursuing trooper turned his own car into the defendant’s path to hit the defendant’s car, injuring himself on the air bag that deployed in the process," the charging documents read.
Police searched Smith and found two glass pipes "used to smoke methamphetamines," and he told troopers he "had smoked meth while in Seattle but was not clear on when," the charges say. During a police interview, Smith admitted to stealing the vehicle to get home.
"He advised after the vehicle was stopped, the officers were swearing at him to get out of the vehicle, but he wasn’t mad, he understood that emotions were high because some 'Twenty-four-year-old kid had just jacked a patrol car,' a State Patrol detective wrote in a probable cause statement.
Troopers noted Smith's mood fluctuated, but he responded to questions and never showed any signs of confusion. Prosecutors charged Smith with one count of second-degree robbery and one count of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. The current charges don't include driving under the influence.
Smith was being held in lieu of $300,000 bond, prosecutor's spokesperson Douglas Wagoner said in an email. He's set to be arraigned Jan. 5.
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