Pursuit suspect at large after fleeing California courthouse mid-hearing, sheriff says
A man appearing in a Northern California courthouse Thursday afternoon fled in the middle of his hearing, stole a vehicle and led law enforcement officers on a pursuit into steep terrain that ended without the suspect in custody, authorities said.
David Lee Salke Jr., 35, was being remanded back into custody by an Amador Superior Court judge for violating the terms of his release from a firearms-related arrest in February, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Deputies said Salke fled the Jackson courthouse mid-hearing, around 4 p.m. Thursday, then stole a pickup truck from a nearby construction site.
A Jackson police officer located the stolen vehicle and attempted to pull it over, but Salke failed to yield and a pursuit began on southbound Highway 49, according to the sheriff’s news release.
Calaveras County deputies and a California Highway Patrol helicopter joined Amador County deputies and Jackson police in the pursuit, which proceeded onto Highway 26 and nearby surface streets, authorities said.
Pursuing law enforcement lost sight of Salke, who abandoned the stolen pickup in the Calaveras County town of Mountain Ranch, according to the news release.
The CHP helicopter continued to monitor Salke as he fled on foot toward Tiger Creek Reservoir, which is on the Mokelumne River about 20 miles east of Jackson.
“Personnel saturated the area and navigated the extremely steep and difficult terrain in an attempt to locate Salke,” the Amador County Sheriff’s Office wrote.
As they were doing so, deputies were “flagged down regarding an unrelated subject who had entered the water and hadn’t been seen for approximately 15 minutes.”
Those deputies diverted from the pursuit of Salke to the attempted water rescue, which the Sheriff’s Office said remained ongoing as of late Thursday.
Salke remains at large, the Sheriff’s Office said. His February arrest came on charges related to being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a short-barreled shotgun and resisting arrest, authorities said.
