Crime & Safety

Stolen Corvette Case Ends With Attack On Police Officer, Weapon Charges

Police said the Texas man struck a plainclothes officer with a rifle before fleeing, prompting a search involving a helicopter and K-9 unit.

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Texas man faces assault and weapons charges after police said he struck a plainclothes officer in the head with a rifle during an investigation involving a stolen Corvette.

At 10:44 p.m. Monday, a Montgomery County police officer spotted a Corvette traveling south on New Hampshire Avenue. The car had been reported stolen from Anne Arundel County on Oct. 1.

Police deployed a drone and saw the car pull into a home's driveway in the 900 block of Hollywood Avenue. Two people exited the car and entered the home.

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A plainclothes officer approached the vehicle, and Isaiah Armstrong Smith, 23, of Dallas, Texas, then exited the home holding a rifle and struck the officer in the head with it, police said. As other officers arrived, authorities said Smith fled.

Using a helicopter and a K-9 unit, officers eventually found and arrested Smith in the 900 block of Winhall Way.

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Officers also recovered Smith's gun, which police said was tossed in the 1000 block of Hollywood Avenue.

Smith was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and charged with first-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and multiple firearms-related offenses. He is being held without bond.

The second person in the Corvette, an unnamed 22-year-old from Silver Spring, was arrested without incident but released pending further investigation. Police are still describing him as a suspect.

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