An alleged carjacker was arrested in Florida Friday after he knocked over a cop with the stolen vehicle and led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a swamp, newly released footage shows.
Bodycam video from the Port Orange Police Department shows the moment officers confronted Ah’lijah Aman Mah’di Balk, 20, who was parked outside an apartment complex in Daytona Beach in a reported stolen car.
One of the officers, who appears to be pointing either a taser or gun at the vehicle, demands that the suspect step out with his hands up, but Balk does not comply, the footage shows.
When the officer opens the passenger side door to attempt to remove the suspect, Balk backs the vehicle up, causing the car door to knock the officer to the ground.
“Hey! Hands up! Hey!” the officer yells once he’s back on his feet and pointing his weapon at Balk, who speeds away, according to the clip.
Port Orange officers hopped in their cruisers and chased Balk, with one police cruiser attempting to cut him off at a dead-end road.
Balk’s vehicle could be seen hitting and scrapping the front end of the cruiser as he fled, and the officer warned other cops via radio that the suspect could do the same to their car, the video shows.
The suspect eventually loses control of his vehicle and comes to a halt, with officers quickly trying to surround his car and yelling at him to surrender in the footage.
Balk, instead, jumps out of his car and decides to flee on foot, losing a shoe as he runs into a wooded area.
But the alleged carjacker quickly finds himself before a swamp, and before he can dash to avoid the wetlands, an officer cuts him off and tackles him into the water.
Two officers then work together to cuff Balk as they pull him out of the shallow swamp, as the suspect begs for them to let him go.
He could also be heard complaining about the twigs he was being pressed down on as the officers detained him.
Balk was booked at the Volusia County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, grand theft motor vehicle, petit theft, criminal mischief, and unlawful possession of another person’s ID.
