POWAY - A brief high-speed chase through Poway ended when a motorcycle stunt rider headed off the road Wednesday.

San Diego police first spotted the rider on a dirt bike popping wheelies on north Scripps Poway Parkway at 3:45 p.m., Poway sheriff's Sgt. Dan Brislin said. A San Diego police unit tried to stop the rider, who sped away and lost police by heading north in the hills near Danielson Street.

A Poway sheriff's unit spotted the dirt bike a few minutes later heading north on Espola Road, Brislin said. The deputy pursued the motorcyclist for about a minute at speeds that reached 75 mph. When the rider took a dirt road off Chabad Way, the deputy called off the chase for safety reasons, Brislin said.

A San Diego Police Department helicopter searched the area for the motorcycle, but failed to locate it.