A Rush City man drowned in the St. Croix River on Thursday after driving into the water following a chase with police.

The Chisago County Sheriff’s Office says that at 5:56 p.m. deputies tried to make a traffic stop with a vehicle driven by 55-year-old Matthew Norman, who had an outstanding felony warrant in the county.

Norman drove off from the stop to avoid arrest, the press release says, prompting deputies to start a pursuit.

The suspect then drove on the boat ramp at Railroad Landing and into the St. Croix River.

Deputies say they saw him get out of the vehicle and start to swim away, but eventually lost sight of him in the water, the sheriff’s office says.

When that happened, multiple agencies gathered to search into the night. Just after 9 a.m. on Friday, the Chisago County Water Patrol found the body of a dead man about an eighth of a mile downstream from where the Norman had entered the river.

The body was identified as Norman.