Carjacking suspect still at large

Police still are searching for a man who led Mountlake Terrace officers on a high-speed pursuit, drove through oncoming traffic on Interstate 5 and carjacked a woman in another vehicle before vanishing 10 miles later in Seattle.

Just after 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, the suspect, whom police have identified as Samir J. Judeh, flagged down a woman in a BMW sedan near the Northeast 145th Street exit in Shoreline and forced her to drive him to the University District, where he fled, police said.

The woman was frightened but unharmed and returned to the 145th Street exit about 30 minutes later to tell police what happened, Mountlake Terrace police Sgt. Doug Hansen said.

The pursuit started after an officer recognized Judeh's car in a motel parking lot in the 6000 block of 244th Street Southwest in Mountlake Terrace. Police had been looking for his large, white sedan since he outran officers in two pursuits, the latest on March 9, Hansen said.

Two detectives knocked on his motel room door, but no one answered. As they were planning their next move, Judeh and a woman bolted from the room and thundered out of the parking lot. Judeh nearly struck the detectives and jumped the curb, flattening a tire, Hansen said.

Police followed as he drove to I-5, where he merged into oncoming traffic, heading south in the northbound lanes. Police officers stayed parallel with him from the southbound side, Hansen said. Just beyond the 145th Street overpass at Fifth Avenue Northeast, Judeh tried to leave the freeway in a grassy median area but got his vehicle stuck, Hansen said.

His passenger left the car and disappeared, police said. He then stood along the freeway trying to wave someone down until someone stopped. Police briefly lost sight of him and were uncertain what happened until the other driver returned.

Judeh's driver's license is suspended, but he is named in no arrest warrants. His earlier attempts to elude officers stemmed from minor traffic offenses, Hansen said.

"He has no reason to cause all these problems for himself," he said.

Police say Judeh is 28 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 160 pounds. He has brown eyes and a shaved head, Hansen said.