Motorcyclist serious after cop chase crash

A motorcyclist is in a serious condition after being hurled into a canal while trying to get away from police on the Gold Coast.

Police tried to intercept the man at Surfers Paradise on Monday night, but the rider took off.

Officers didn't chase him, but waited for him to emerge from a cul-de-sac on Sunrise Boulevard.

When the rider didn't return they began a search and found his bike crashed and the man in a canal that joins the Nerang River.

He's been taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.