Mitch Soule was walking up the steps of the Columbia Tower around noon Monday when a man ran out of the Bank of America with a police officer on his heels.

“I really thought it was kind of a movie thing,” Soule said.

But it was no movie.

Soule and dozens of other witnesses had a front-row view of a botched bank robbery and attempted carjacking that shut down several streets around Fifth Avenue and Cherry Street. One suspect was arrested and a second — the man seen running from the bank — managed to escape, according to police.

It began around 11:55 a.m. when a Seattle police captain in uniform was in the bank on a personal errand. A teller drew his attention to another customer who she said was apparently trying to rob the bank.

The officer approached the man and ordered him to stop and show his hands, according to police. The man ignored the commands and walked outside to the waiting cab and jumped inside. A woman was seated inside the cab, Seattle police say.

The man threatened the cabdriver, who jumped out of the taxi and fled.

The officer ran out, drew his gun and ordered the man and woman out of the cab, according to police. The man jumped into the driver’s seat, but couldn’t get the car into gear, police said.

The man jumped out of the cab and fled south down Fifth, Soule said.

Police said the woman inside the cab refused to come out with her hands up. A SWAT team member who had responded to the scene shot out the back window of the cab with a beanbag projectile. She was then arrested.

The man who escaped was described as black, 6-feet-2 to 6-feet-4, about 250 pounds and 35 to 40 years old. He wore all black clothing and was carrying a dirty pink backpack.