BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Police are warning the public amid a rise in impaired drivers on the roads in Bellingham.

The Bellingham Police Department (BPD) says it’s made 40 DUI arrests so far this month, including one person who led them on a chase through downtown last weekend.

Officers noticed a man driving recklessly down Railroad Avenue as the bars were closing early Saturday, Jan. 25.

The officers tried to block the driver with their patrol car, but the driver sped up and drifted through the intersection. He went on to crash into an unoccupied parked car and a traffic barrier while continuing to flee.

The chase ended when the driver lost control of his front two wheels and crashed his badly damaged car into the railroad tracks at Roeder Avenue and Coho Way. The 24-year-old man was arrested and taken into custody on a litany of charges, including DUI.

BPD is warning the public that they will have extra DUI patrols out for Super Bowl weekend.