A school teacher being pursued by police in California has narrowly escaped a fatal injury after careering his truck off a highway and down an embankment on Tuesday.

Kip Richard Arnold, a 51-year-old gym teacher, refused to stop when police officers tried to pull him over. Following a high-speed chase, he then drove his vehicle through a guard railing, landing near an office building.

Arnold was wanted on suspicion of child abuse allegedly involving a 16-year-old girl.

He was injured in the crash and brought to a local hospital.