An Essex police sergeant was running speed enforcement on Route 133 around 11 p.m. when he spotted a car traveling roughly 50 mph in a 30 mph zone, according to the department. When the sergeant tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver accelerated instead.

The pursuit continued toward the Gloucester line, where the driver's speed climbed to about 100 mph. The sergeant called off the chase for safety reasons, police said.

Officers soon located the suspect vehicle near 598 Essex Ave., where it had collided with another car. The suspect's vehicle caught fire, and the Gloucester Fire Department extinguished the blaze.

Two people in the struck vehicle were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. The 21-year-old driver and a passenger in his car were also transported for medical assessment.

The driver is charged with speeding, reckless assault with a motor vehicle, and operating under the influence, second offense, among other counts. Police said they are not publicly identifying the suspect because he is being summoned to court and has not yet been booked.

The investigation is ongoing.

The crash highlights the dangers of high-speed pursuits on the region's winding coastal roads, where a routine speeding stop can escalate quickly into a serious collision. Route 133 and Essex Avenue carry steady local traffic through Cape Ann's residential neighborhoods, and police departments across the region have increasingly weighed the risks of chasing fleeing drivers against the danger they pose to the public.