Submitted Photo Alex Albright of Minot took this photo of the crash Wednesday night at First Street and Eighth Avenue NW. The driver was fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle at a high rate of speed. He lost control of the vehicle, left the road, flipped once and struck two trees. The crash caused a power outage in north Minot.

A car fleeing at high speed from police caused a major power outage in Minot Wednesday night.

Minot Police say the incident began as a “rolling fight” between a male and a female. An officer saw a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle in question and, following a check of the license plate, discovered the vehicle was reported stolen earlier Wednesday.

When police stopped the vehicle in the vicinity of Trinity Homes on Third Street Northeast it suddenly fled westbound on Eighth Avenue NE toward Broadway. The vehicle lost control a few blocks later and struck a curb on the right side of Eighth Avenue, continued across the roadway where it jumped a curb, flipped over completely, crossed First Street NW and came to rest suddenly wedged between two trees.

In the course of the accident a support wire for a power pole was snapped off by the speeding vehicle, tossed into the air and wrapped around the overhead wires. The result was a power outage over a large section of the city. The accident occurred at approximately 9:40 p.m.

Lights flickered briefly before going out completely, which locked entire neighborhoods into total darkness. The power outage primarily affected sections of northwest and northeast Minot, including Minot State University and businesses located along a lengthy stretch of North Broadway. A statement from Xcel Energy said about 2,100 residents were included in the blackout. Power was restored about 10:20 p.m.

The driver of the stolen vehicle responsible for the outage was Marquell Salters, 20, of Minot. Salters had to be extricated from the vehicle and was transported to Trinity Hospital for treatment of “non-life threatening” injuries. Salters was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and fleeing. He was to be transported to the Ward County Jail upon his release from the hospital.