A motorcyclist being pursued by police died Tuesday afternoon after crashing in the north metro, authorities said.

The crash occurred shortly after 2 p.m. on southbound Interestate 35 just south of Hwy. 97 near Forest Lake, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Killed was Samnang Doeun Lenh, 36, of Oakdale, the patrol said.

The southbound lanes remained closed for several hours after the crash, and were reopened about 5 p.m.

Earlier, at just before 1:30 p.m. a state trooper witnessed a motorcycle driver heading northbound at 120 miles per hour on I-35W and 95th Avenue in Blaine.

The trooper tried to stop Lenh, but he fled and the trooper lost sight and canceled the pursuit, said Patrol Lt. Tiffani Nielson.

Nielson said that dispatch, using traffic cameras, located the 2013 Yamaha Race motorcycle crossing 95th Avenue onto I-35. When the trooper located Lenh a second time, the driver fled and then hit a semitrailer, Neilson said.

He was ejected and thrown into the right shoulder and pronounced dead at the scene, the patrol said. "He was driving too fast and could not avoid hitting the back of that semitrailer," she said.

Lenh was wearing a helmet, the patrol said.