The Eyrie

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Texas man is facing assault and firearm charges after Montgomery County police say he hit an officer with a gun during an investigation tied to a stolen Corvette in Silver Spring. Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Isaiah Armstrong Smith of Dallas.

Authorities said the encounter happened after officers spotted the stolen sports car driving south on New Hampshire Avenue late Monday, Nov. 2. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Anne Arundel County more than a month earlier. Police said Smith fled after the confrontation, but officers tracked him down a short time later with help from a helicopter and K-9 unit.

How officers traced the stolen Corvette to a Silver Spring driveway

Montgomery County police said the investigation began around 10:45 p.m. when officers saw the Corvette headed southbound on New Hampshire Avenue. After that, a drone was deployed to follow the car, and investigators watched it pull into a driveway in the 900 block of Hollywood Avenue.

Police said two people got out of the vehicle and went into a nearby home. That movement became the focus of the case, as officers moved in to determine who was connected to the stolen car and where it had come from. The Corvette had been reported stolen in Anne Arundel County on Oct. 1, according to police.

Police say a plainclothes officer was struck with a privately made firearm

According to Montgomery County police, a plainclothes officer approached the Corvette and was met by one of the suspects leaving the house with a rifle. Police said that suspect was Smith.

Investigators allege Smith struck the officer in the head with the firearm before running away as more officers arrived. Police said the weapon was a privately manufactured AR-style pistol that was later recovered after being tossed in the 1000 block of Hollywood Avenue. The officer’s condition was not detailed in the information released by police.

Search teams arrested Smith after a brief flight from the scene

Police said Smith ran from the area after the alleged assault, but officers were able to locate him in the 900 block of Winhall Way. The arrest was made with assistance from a Prince George’s County helicopter and K-9 unit, according to Montgomery County police.

The response added air support and tracking dogs to the search, indicating the seriousness of the confrontation and the need to quickly secure the area. Police did not say how far Smith traveled before he was found, but they did say the arrest happened after the initial encounter on Hollywood Avenue.

Another man was detained and later released pending investigation

Police also arrested a 22-year-old Silver Spring man whom investigators believed had been driving the stolen Corvette. He was found in the 900 block of Hollywood Avenue, according to police.

Unlike Smith, the second man was not held on the same set of charges. Police said he was released pending further investigation. Authorities have not publicly identified him by name, and they did not provide additional details about what they believe his role was in the incident beyond the suspected connection to the stolen vehicle.

Charges include assault, stolen vehicle possession and firearm offenses

Smith was charged with assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and multiple firearm offenses, police said. He is being held without bond while the case moves forward.

The arrest followed a chain of events that began with a stolen car alert and ended with a face-to-face confrontation between officers and a suspect at a home in Silver Spring. Montgomery County police said the investigation is still active, and the details they released so far center on the stolen Corvette, the privately manufactured weapon and the officer who was struck during the effort to make contact with those involved.