A car flipped over on the southbound N.E. 85th Street exit of I-405 early Tuesday morning after the driver ran a red light and sped away from police at the freeway entrance of 116th Street.

“Evidently he ran the light, almost striking the officer’s vehicle, and took off,” said Kirkland Police Department spokesman Sgt. Rob Saloum.

The pursuit reached speeds in excess of 100 mile per hour down I-405 just after 1 a.m. While trying to exit the freeway and go around another car the assailant lost control of his car, flipping into a some brush next to the ramp.

The unidentified male was conscious but caught up and hanging by his seat belt in the overturned car.

“The vehicle was flipped over and the gas tank was punctured,” said Saloum. “The gas was coming out on him and the officer’s only way to free him was to give him something to cut himself out with.”

After being freed from the car, the driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with non-life threatening injuries. Police say that alcohol was a possible factor in the accident. The incident is still under investigation.