Forsyth, Ga. ? A trucker clung to the back of his trailerless semi Tuesday while a man who commandeered the vehicle led police on a 50-mile chase down an interstate in Georgia, authorities said. The semi eventually slowed enough for the trucker to leap off near the end of the chase.

When Milo Banks, 27, stopped the semi, armed officers surrounded the truck’s cab, breaking through the windows before wrestling Banks to the ground, authorities said. Events began after trucker Torrey Lang, 32, of Lithonia, had walked away from the truck in a parking lot, then hurried back after spotting Banks climbing in, said Union City police spokesman George Louth.

“He had to run around it to avoid being hit,” he said.

Capt. Jason Bolton with the Henry County police department said authorities believe the suspect stole the truck in Union City just south of Atlanta. Bolton said county authorities helped chase the truck as it barreled south on Interstate 75 with the trucker riding on the back.

TV helicopter footage showed Lang jumping off the back of the truck and falling in the middle of the interstate as the vehicle slowed down in Monroe County.