Man Who Fled Amador Courthouse Captured
Sonora, CA – A disabled vehicle led to the arrest of fugitive 35-year-old David Lee Salke Jr.
As earlier reported here, last month Salke fled an Amador County Courtroom in Jackson during a hearing for his February gun-related arrest. He stole a truck and then led law enforcement on a chase to the Mountain Ranch area of Calaveras County, before escaping. Nearly, three weeks after that incident, Salke is back behind bars.
Amador County Sheriff’s officials detailed that just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday (May 16), a CHP officer pulled over to help a disabled vehicle on lone Michigan Bar Road in Sacramento County near the Amador County line. Sheriff’s officials learned that one of the occupants was a known male acquaintance of Salke and that the other unidentified man in the vehicle had walked away from the scene. While questioning the acquaintance, investigators determined that the man was actually Salke Jr.
A CHP helicopter and canine unit did an immediate search of the area, but Salke was nowhere to be found. Detectives did not give up though; instead, they kept some unmarked vehicles in the area, and it paid off just before 2 p.m. Salke was spotted walking by a residence close to the intersection of Maxwell and Carbondale Roads in the Ione area without incident.
Salke now faces fresh charges of felony evading a peace officer, vehicle theft, and (misdemeanor) reckless driving on a highway.
