THREE men chased down a hit-and-run driver on foot in Mawson yesterday evening, without knowing police were already after him.

Police say officers first approached the 27-year-old Gordon man as he sat in his vehicle in Phillip just before 5.30pm yesterday.

The man drove away and police chased him through the streets of Phillip, before calling off the pursuit a short time later.

According to police, he was then involved in a two-car collision at the intersection of Mawson Drive and Heard Street in Mawson, and was seen by three witnesses getting out of his car and running away.

The witnesses chased the 27-year-old and caught him near the Mawson Playing Fields, before police officers arrived and placed him under arrest, finding a small amount of cannabis in his possession, and two mobile phones in the car.

Police executed a search warrant on the man’s home in Gordon later that night, where they located a sum of cash and more cannabis.

The man was charged with dangerous driving, not obeying the directions of police and traffic in a trafficable quantity of cannabis.