TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Police are releasing more details about a carjacking and crash that ended with an officer being taken to the hospital.
Police say that the events began the morning of December 11, when a 75-year-old woman was carjacked in the parking lot of the Leon County Public Library. The victim told police the suspect approached her and asked her the time, because he wanted to know when the library opened. As she got out of the car and tried to close the door behind her, the suspect pried the door open, got in the car, pointed the gun at the victim, and demanded her keys. She gave complied and the suspect drove off in her car.
Police were notified about the incident just before 9:30 a.m. Shortly after, officers spotted the stolen car near the intersection of North Monroe and Virginia Street. The officer followed the vehicle through Adams and Brevard Street before activating his cruisers lights and sirens when the victim returned to Monroe Street.
The suspect reportedly sped up and didn't stop, speeding through a red light at the Virginia Street intersection and ramming into another police officer's vehicle. An officer involved that first crash was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
The suspect then continued south in the northbound lanes of traffic on Monroe Street, and turned east on Tennessee Street. The chase ended with the suspect crashing into several parked vehicles in the parking lot of Capital City Bank, which is located at 217 N. Monroe Street.
The driver was identified as 34-year-old Jason Smith. After the crash, police say they found a handgun in his backpack that was reported stolen out of Thomasville on May 30, 2012.
The carjacking victim and a witness immediately identified Smith.
Smith was later taken to the hospital for back pain. He has since been booked into the Leon County Jail.
Smith has been convicted for several felonies, including Grand Theft of Motor Vehicle on 06/08/2007 and Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding on 06/16/2000.
Smith is currently faces six charges, which include the following: Carjacking With A Firearm, Possession of a Firearm By A Convicted Felon, Felony Fleeing and Eluding A Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Battery On A Law Enforcement Officer, Reckless Driving, and Driving With A Suspended Driver's License.
