A police officer fired shots at a stolen vehicle as the suspect behind the wheel attempted to flee in San Francisco's Tenderloin district late Thursday night, according to police.

At approximately 9:15 p.m. a black town car was reported stolen in San Francisco. The car's description and license plate was broadcasted on the police department's radio channels.

Shortly thereafter, a plainclothes police officer located the stolen vehicle near the intersection of Market and Eighth streets.

The unmarked police officer notified dispatch and followed the vehicle in an unmarked police vehicle to the 300 block of Eddy Street, where additional marked police officers had arrived to assist.

The town car fled eastbound on Eddy Street as marked units arrived in the area.

Spike strips were laid down on Eddy Street to disable the suspect vehicle. To avoid the spike strips, the suspect steered the car onto the sidewalk, police said.

An officer standing on the sidewalk, fearing for his life and the life of other pedestrians in the area, discharged his firearm at the car, according to police.

The car continued on Eddy Street to Fifth Street. The suspect vehicle collided with a taxicab at Fifth and Mission streets in the South of Market neighborhood. Two vehicles in the vicinity were also hit during the collision, police said.

Officers arrived at the intersection of Fifth and Mission streets and located the suspect behind the wheel of the town car, according to police.

The suspect and four other people sustained injuries not considered to have been life threatening, police said.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was then arrested without further incident, police said.