BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The North Dakota Highway Patrol says a Minnesota man is dead after fleeing a trooper and crashing his pickup west of Bismarck, North Dakota.

The patrol says that 36-year-old Paul Mertens of Ramsey, Minnesota died just after 9:30 p.m. Friday while being taken by ambulance to a Bismarck hospital.

The highway patrol says a driver called in the pickup after it nearly sideswiped the caller's vehicle on Interstate 94. The responding trooper pulled Mertens over just east of New Salem, North Dakota but he fled and the trooper gave chase with speeds reaching 90 miles per hour.

The patrol says the trooper backed off because of dusty road conditions, and the pickup was later found in Morton County after rolling several times. Mertens was ejected from the truck.

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