A man led St. Paul police on a short chase on his go-cart Tuesday evening and evaded arrest despite clotheslining himself on a chain and being tasered twice. The suspect scuffled with police before he was finally arrested.

An officer tried to stop the 19-year-old man, who has not been charged, about 5:50 p.m. at Jackson and 12th Streets, officer John Keating said. The suspect was in the roadway, and the arresting officer feared for his and other drivers' safety because of the go-cart's small size, Keating said. The go-cart did not have a license plate or lights.

The officer turned on his lights and siren and pulled up behind the go-cart, but the man took off at speeds topping 20 miles per hour. The officer used his loudspeaker to command the driver to pull over, but the man fled through two red lights along Jackson Street.

At one point, the driver swerved close to the center line and almost entered head-on traffic, Keating said.

The 19-year-old turned off onto Kellogg Boulevard and drove a block or two before four police squad cars forced him into a parking lot.

"Their primary concern was for the safety of other motorists and for the driver himself," Keating said. "He was creating a hazard."

The 19-year-old drove straight into a metal chain, clotheslining himself across the neck but somehow remained on the go-cart.

An assisting officer got out of his car and chased the go-cart on foot, yelling for the driver to stop. The officer yelled a second time and tasered the suspect when he refused to stop. The driver stopped for a moment when he was tasered, then took off on his go-cart, Keating said.

The officer tasered him a second time, and the driver stopped. He got off the go-cart but refused to get on the ground as ordered. Keating said he instead grappled with police and eventually was arrested after being tasered a third time.