A 21-year-old man who led police on a midnight chopper chase in Surrey on Friday was found with drugs in his rental car and no licence, RCMP say.

Court records show the suspect has 11 previous driving infractions and outstanding charges for assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

Mounties say the white Dodge Charger rental car ran a stop sign in the Newton neighbourhood and failed to pull over for police at 12:20 a.m. But with the Air One helicopter circling the area, police avoided a street chase.

The chopper followed the sportscar as it raced through North Surrey, reaching speeds estimated at 150 kilometres per hour and allegedly running through red lights and stop signs.

The driver pulled over momentarily and got out of his vehicle while the chopper pilot directed officers into the area.

Police swarmed in but say the suspect jumped back into his car and headed in the direction of the oncoming squad. He allegedly rammed into a parked car and oncoming police vehicles as he fled past. A constable suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The chase was picked back up by air while police set up a spike belt in the speedster's path.

Seemingly invincible, the car flew over the spikes and continued on its path through red lights and stop signs. The driver finally lost control of his deflated tires and drove off the road near Prince Charles Boulevard and Huntley Avenue.

He attempted a third getaway, steering his crippled car back on the road and police say that he again slammed into a cruiser causing minor damage.

According to a witness Gurvinder Gill, twenty-three police cars swarmed the area and pinned the car to a neighbour's fence.

"I was just watching TV earlier and all of a sudden I see a white Dodge Charger along with the Suburban just coming down the street -- with sparks flying out the Charger -- and all of sudden it just came flying into the fence," Gill told CTV news.

Gill said he saw two officers get on top of the Dodge to coax the man out but he was arrested without a fight.

"The guy in the car, he was a pretty bulky guy. He looked like he was brown, around six feet and had his hoodie on so you couldn't tell his face," he said.

Police say they found a large quantity of drugs and cash in the car and have recommended a number of drug-related charges in addition to a number of driving violations. Surrey RCMP said the man is known to police for minor drug offences.

"This wreckless driving behavior could've been catastrophic," said Cpl. Drew Grainger. "Particularly the areas this vehicle was travelling in -- densely populated residential areas. [He] could've easily struck a pedestrian or another motorist."

With files from CTV British Columbia's Michele Brunoro