CARLSBAD – Two people were injured Tuesday after a driver in a car being pursued by police slammed into another car on a freeway off-ramp causing a multi-vehicle collision.

Carlsbad Police attempted to pull over a man driving a black Saab who sped past them just before noon, the California Highway Patrol said.

The driver took off on south Interstate 5 at speeds of up to 90 mph and minutes later took the Cannon Road off-ramp where he slammed into the back of a Mercedes-Benz.

The Mercedes was pushed into the back of a truck which briefly caught fire. At least two other vehicles also collided after the chain-reaction crash, the CHP said.

The driver in the Saab was uncooperative and violently resisted arrest, the CHP said. He was shot with a Taser gun and was taken by helicopter to the hospital.

The woman in the Mercedes was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Two children in the back seat of her car were uninjured, the CHP said.

Witnesses told authorities the Saab never braked as it came off the ramp. The off-ramp is expected to be closed for several hours as authorities investigate.

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