SAN DIEGO – A high-speed chase of a driver in a stolen vehicle ended Thursday morning with a crash in East County and the driver in custody, officials said.

The pursuit began on northbound Interstate 15 at Aero Drive just before 10 a.m. after a San Diego police officer spotted a car reported stolen from the city, said Officer Rob Sanchez of the California Highway Patrol.

The police officer tried to stop the driver of the blue 2003 four-door Mazda Protege, but the driver sped away on the freeway at speeds of up to 100 mph, Sanchez said.

Police followed him onto westbound state Route 52 and then onto southbound Interstate 805 where the CHP took over the chase.

With CHP officers in tow, the driver then went southbound on I-805 to southbound state Route 15, Sanchez said. The driver got off the freeway at the Main Street exit in National City headed east onto Paradise Valley Road where he crashed at Meadowbrook Drive.

Authorities said the chase continued east on surface streets where the driver sped away at 60 mph. El Cajon police said he eventually lost control of the car and slid into a telephone pole at Jamacha Road and Washington Avenue. The driver abandoned the car and ran from police, who caught him after a brief foot chase, officials said.

No injuries were reported.

Authorities said the chase did not affect drivers on the freeway or in El Cajon where the chase ended. Details on the first crash was not available, Sanchez said.

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