Officers arrested a man Tuesday morning after he led them on a destructive tour of Capitol Hill in a stolen garbage truck.

Shortly after 6 AM today the desk clerk for the East precinct was approached by the driver of a garbage truck. The driver said as he was attempting to pick up trash from an alley in the 1500 block of Pine St. when a man came up to him and began harassing him. The man eventually hopped into the drivers seat of the running garbage truck and began to drive away.

Officers quickly spotted the wayward waste truck slowly driving through the Pike-Pine Corridor and followed closely behind the truck as it weaved in and out of traffic. The suspect struck several parked cars and upended a bike share kiosk at Bellevue Ave. and Pike St., and eventually came to a stop at Bellevue Ave. and E. Olive Way, where he crashed into another waste disposal truck.

The thief briefly attempted to elude police on foot but was taken into custody without further incident. Officers booked the 18-year-old suspect -- who police discovered only has a learner's permit to drive -- into the King County Jail for investigation of auto theft and malicious mischief.