Suspect killed trying to escape truck after attempted traffic stop

ONEONTA, Ala. (WIAT) — A woman was killed after she tried to escape a U-Haul truck after an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency trooper attempted to make a traffic stop.

According to ALEA, the incident occurred on Hwy 75 north of Oneonta Jan. 11 at 8 p.m.

Jimmy Russell Smith, 32, was driving the truck when the trooper attempted to make the stop. He was attempting to pull off onto the shoulder when the passenger tried to exit the “slow-moving vehicle.” The passenger, 34-year-old Crystal Lynn Carlson fell underneath the truck and was killed.

Both Carlson and Smith were suspects in a shoplifting incident that had occurred at an Oneonta Walmart just before the attempted stop.

ALEA says that the trooper attempting to make the stop did not engage in a pursuit of the Smith and Carlson “at any point during this incident.”

ALEA is currently investigating the incident at this time. No other information has been released at this time.