Running from police just made things worse for an Illinois man who said he was on his way to Kalamazoo to meet a friend.

Paul Abbott, of Evanston, Ill., was sentenced to a minimum of 15 months in prison for felony fleeing a police officer in a vehicle Monday morning in Berrien County Trial Court.

Abbott had been pulled over for going 87-miles per hour in a 70-miles per hour zone on the U.S. 31 bypass in Oronoko Township in the early morning hours of July 24. The officer saw a “suspicious” backpack in the car and asked if he could search the vehicle. When Abbott refused, the officer called for a canine unit.

Abbott got in the car and fled the scene at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.

“That’s a danger to everyone else on the highway — to innocent drivers,” said Judge Dennis Wiley.

When Abbott was caught, no drugs were found in the vehicle. Abbott said he fled because he was scared.

“I was wrong for taking off,” he said.

Abbott receives credit for 36 days served in Berrien County Jail.

Wiley told the court Abbott’s prior record includes convictions for assault, resisting and obstructing police, drug possession, theft and criminal trespassing.