Man who ran out of California courthouse mid-hearing is arrested 2 weeks later, sheriff says
Authorities on Tuesday arrested a man accused of fleeing a Northern California courthouse more than two weeks earlier in the middle of his court hearing, leading police and deputies on a pursuit in a stolen pickup truck.
David Lee Salke Jr., 35, ran out of the Jackson courthouse during an afternoon hearing April 27 as he was being remanded back into custody by an Amador Superior Court judge following a February arrest on firearms-related charges, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release at the time.
He then allegedly stole a pickup truck, leading deputies and Jackson police on a pursuit on Highway 49 and Highway 26 as well as back roads, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Officers on the day of the incident found the abandoned pickup truck near the Calaveras County town of Mountain Ranch. A California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked Salke as he allegedly fled on foot toward Tiger Creek Reservoir, but authorities eventually lost sight of the suspect in steep and rugged terrain, sheriff’s officials said.
An arrest warrant for Salke was issued Monday, court records show.
CHP personnel around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday notified sheriff’s officials that an acquaintance of the suspect had been contacted in a disabled vehicle on Ione Michigan Bar Road in Sacramento County near the Amador County line, the Sheriff’s Office said in an updated news release, and that a second man had walked away from the vehicle.
Amador County investigators determined the man who walked away to be Salke, and a search began with assistance from a CHP helicopter and canines. Law enforcement personnel around 1:40 p.m. found Salke near Maxwell and Carbondale roads in Amador County.
Salke was arrested without further incident and booked Tuesday evening into the Amador County Jail on outstanding warrants and charges related to firearms possession, vehicle theft and evading peace officers. The Amador County District Attorney’s Office has filed a new criminal complaint against Salke in connection with last month’s incident, court records show.
Salke is due to be arraigned on the new charges Wednesday afternoon in the courthouse from which he allegedly escaped.
This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 8:48 AM.
