NORTHAMPTON — A Greenfield man admitted Wednesday that he led police on a chase that went through seven towns and damaged multiple vehicles in September 2016.

Frank Cabrera, 47, pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and two counts of leaving the scene of property damage.

Judge Richard Carey sentenced Cabrera to two years in the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction and four years of probation with one year of his incarceration suspended. Cabrera was given credit for 174 days he had spent in jail on $50,000 bail.

Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Matthew Thomas had argued for a state prison sentence saying that at the time of the chase, Cabrera was already on a suspended jail sentence.

“He committed a felony in an attempt to avoid a misdemeanor,” Thomas said in court. “He did so in grand fashion.”

Defense attorney John Drake told the judge he agreed with Thomas’ statement that Cabrera turned what would have been a misdemeanor for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license into a felony.

“It’s certainly poor judgment,” Drake said.

Drake said Cabrera didn’t stop because he wanted his car in a place where it wouldn’t be towed.

“In sum, this was a very bad action by him,” Drake said. “He knows he placed people in danger.”

Massachusetts State Police troopers unsuccessfully attempted to pull over Cabrera on Route 5 in Hadley on Sept. 8, 2016, after a trooper ran his plate and determined Cabrera’s license was suspended, according to Thomas.

Instead of pulling over, Cabrera got onto Interstate 91 south. Using a dirt road near the Oxbow of the Connecticut River, Cabrera changed directions and headed north on I-91 and then exited at Bridge Street, Thomas said.

“The trooper, concerned about public safety, stopped pursuit,” Thomas said.

Cabrera then sideswiped the truck of another driver, totaling the woman’s vehicle.

Thomas told the court the woman whose truck Cabrera struck is still dealing with problems relating to whiplash she suffered when Cabrera hit her vehicle.

A Hadley police sergeant next spotted Cabrera’s vehicle traveling as fast as 70 mph in a 35 mph zone, Thomas told the judge. As Cabrera slowed down in response to traffic, the sergeant tried to force a stop but Cabrera jerked his wheel to the left and hit the cruiser before taking off, Thomas said.

After striking the woman’s vehicle and a police cruiser, Cabrera continued into Amherst and through Leverett, Sunderland and into Montague. He then circled back through Leverett, Shutesbury and finally Wendell where Cabrera’s vehicle flipped after striking a tree, authorities said.

Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.

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