Man accused of ramming police cars shot at officers 14 times, faked surrendering before fleeing

A 34-year-old man who police say rammed into multiple squad cars also shot at officers 14 times and faked surrendering before attempting to flee from authorities, footage from the incident showed.

Seth Michael Anderson, of Richardson, was booked in jail over the weekend after he and three police officers were hospitalized following the pursuit and exchange of gunfire Saturday in far northeast Dallas.

Anderson faces four charges of aggravated assault against a public servant, as well as charges of evading arrest and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court documents. Anderson’s lawyer declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

Officers on routine patrol spotted Anderson — who was known to police as a felon with a history of evading officers — at a game room about 2:10 a.m. in the 12800 block of Audelia Road, Dallas police Chief Eddie García said at a news conference Tuesday.

After Anderson left the game room in a vehicle, covert police followed him into a nearby apartment complex in the 9300 block of Skillman Street where he allegedly backed into a parking spot and then rammed a marked police car as it drove by.

He then fled in his vehicle and struck another squad car, injuring an officer, García said. During a winding pursuit through the complex’s parking lot, the suspect hit another police car, injuring two other officers, police said.

The chase ended when the suspect stopped at a dead end. Dash cam footage of the incident showed the vehicle’s driver-side door open slightly ajar before gunfire rang out. García said Anderson stuck a handgun out the door toward the rear of his vehicle before firing about 14 shots at a police car.

Body cam footage showed an officer, whose squad car boxed the suspect in, running for cover before returning fire. The suspect then peeked his raised hands out of the driver’s side door, as if he was going to surrender, before bolting from police, dash cam footage showed.

The officer chased the man through the complex and a patch of grass before he was stunned and apprehended, body cam footage showed.

García called the footage “sobering” and commended the officers’ “tenacious, brave [and] dedicated work.”

“The reduction of violent crime in our city means violent individuals need to be taken into custody. The only way they are taken into custody is proactive policing,” he said.

García added: “We were very lucky in this incident that the city of Dallas and [Dallas police] won that day and the residents of the city won that day.”

Three officers were taken to a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. All three were released from the hospital Saturday, police said. García said Tuesday the officers were doing “fine.”

Anderson was also hospitalized after being stunned, but he has since been released. He was being held in the Dallas County jail Tuesday, with bail set at more than $1.3 million.