Lawrence police pursued a car at high speeds early Sunday until the driver totaled the car, fled the scene and was later arrested.

According to Lawrence Police Sgt. Susan Hadl, a police officer saw two cars drag racing across the bridge near Second and Locust streets at 12:42 a.m. A 1990 Ford Crown Victoria and a silver truck were racing, and the officer pursued the faster of the two vehicles, the car. The car drove eastbound on Lyon Street at speeds up to 70 miles per hour, with the officer two blocks behind.

Hadl said that the driver, a 40-year-old Lawrence man, turned off his headlights near Seventh and Lyon streets. He crashed the car in a ditch on the southeast corner at Ninth and Lyon streets after driving through the guy wires of a power pole. The driver fled the scene.

Witnesses described the suspect to police, and with that information and the vehicle’s information, police located him. The suspect was hiding in his mother’s basement in the 600 block of Walnut Street. Officers transported him to the hospital for minor abrasions and contusions from the accident.

The suspect was booked into the Douglas County Jail on charges of aggravated battery, attempting to flee or elude, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and driving with an open container. Hadl said he was also wanted as a suspect in an incident from early Friday morning. He was listed as a suspect in an aggravated battery at a party in the 800 block of Lyon Street.