EVERETT — Bail was set at $75,000 Tuesday for a man accused of ramming a Community Transit employee’s vehicle on Christmas afternoon and later causing a five-vehicle crash on I-5 in Marysville.

The suspect, 44, made an appearance in Everett District Court where he was accused of robbery, assault, reckless driving and drunken driving.

A transit supervisor in the parking lot of a QFC store on Broadway reported he’d been threatened by a man who appeared to have a knife. The man had walked up to him and allegedly demanded a gas card before reaching into the transit worker’s vehicle to try to take his lunch box from the passenger seat, according to a police report.

The man then left, but returned with what appeared to be a pocket knife while the transit worker remained in his SUV. The worker tried to roll up his driver’s side window but the suspect put his hand in. The transit employee grew alarmed and told police he began to hit the suspect’s hand with a flashlight. At that point, the suspect allegedly tried to puncture one of the tires to the SUV before getting into a maroon Ford Focus and driving it toward the SUV.

That’s when a police officer drove into the QFC lot.

The suspect drove the Ford Focus into the SUV, causing visible damage to the rear bumper.

The suspect then headed east on Everett Avenue toward I-5. At one point, the car swerved around other vehicles and ran a red light at an intersection, according to a police report.

Minutes later, the car crashed in a five-vehicle collision, and it rolled over north of the exit to Fourth Street in Marysville. The suspect was apprehended by Marysville police and appeared to be intoxicated, court papers said.

He had 47 previous arrest warrants, including two that were active.

This story has been changed to correctly identify the driver of the SUV as a Community Transit employee.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.