A San Francisco man who was wanted for a violent felony in Southern California was spotted by police in the Tenderloin Tuesday, and a potentially disastrous high-speed chase ensued.

The SFPD says that officers with the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC) spotted 23-year-old Natomee Hilton driving a vehicle in the vicinity of Market and Jones streets on Tuesday afternoon around 12:45 pm. It's unclear how or why the officers recognized Hilton, but he is reportedly wanted for a violent robbery in Los Angeles.

The officers then attempted a couple of maneuvers to box in Hilton's vehicle, but were unsuccessful.

"Officers deployed a spike strip and used their vehicles to block the suspect vehicle, but the suspect reversed his vehicle onto the sidewalk near officers," the SFPD says in a statement. "During a rapidly unfolding situation, the officers were in harm’s way and at risk of injury and death as they attempted to take the suspect into custody."

Hilton allegedly fled the scene in a dangerous manner, "slamming into vehicles and a building before recklessly fleeing down the sidewalk."

Police gave chase, and it's unclear how long the chase lasted before it was called off for public-safety reasons. The SFPD says only that the chase involved blown red lights and wrong-way driving, and that it traveled through the "Tenderloin, Southern, and Central police districts."

A drone was deployed at one point, and the department says that officers ultimately located Hilton in the water beneath Pier 30, near the Embarcadero. The SFPD Marine Unit provided assistance in taking Hilton into custody.

Hilton was subsequently booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, felony hit and run, felony reckless evading, reckless driving, resisting arrest, possession of burglary tools, running a red light, and driving on the sidewalk.

"I want to thank our officers who acted heroically to confront a violent suspect endangering the lives of officers and the public," SFPD Inerim Chief Paul Yep said in a statement. "Thanks to our professional and disciplined officers, no one was seriously injured."

Police departments around the Bay, in particular in Oakland, have been criticized in recent years for engaging in high-speed chases that often result in casualties for innocent bystanders and uninvolved vehicles.

One such chase in late May killed an Oakland high school teacher, even though police had technically suspended their chase when the collision occurred.

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