Photo: Glacier Media

A car that sped into a ditch at a Nanaimo construction became airborne on its way out, landing so hard that all four tires were flattened.

The 20-year-old driver then ran away from the flagged construction site. When apprehended by a police officer, the man started fighting with her, said Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien.

The officer first spotted the driver about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Nanaimo Parkway and Third Street, which is currently closed at night to allow installation of a new water line.

Radar showed that the southbound vehicle was travelling at 131 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h zone.

The car headed into the construction zone where a large culvert had been dug out for the water line. He went past the flaggers and into the ditch, O’Brien said.

When the vehicle came out of the ditch and stopped, the driver “takes off running,” he said.

The officer “chases the guy and the fight’s on.” She managed to get the man under control. Two construction workers came over and other police officers arrived to arrest the man and taken him to cells, where he spent the remainder of the night.

The driver laughed throughout the event, O’Brien said.

He was released once sober on an undertaking to appear in court on June 27.

It is expected he will face charges of impaired driving, dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer. He refused to supply a breath sample.