An ex-con accused of robbing a bank just east of Lake Elsinore and leading sheriff’s deputies on a freeway chase that ended in a crash was charged Wednesday with robbery and evading arrest.
Thomas Jerome Burke, 25, of Murrieta was arrested Saturday after the pursuit on Interstate 15.
Burke was being held in lieu of $230,000 bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside and was slated to make his initial court appearance this afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
About 4 p.m. Saturday, the defendant allegedly held up a Bank of America branch in the 29000 block of Canyon Hills Road, near Railroad Canyon Road, and then fled the location in a gold Buick sedan.
According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Ponder, deputies responding to the bank’s 911 call spotted the vehicle heading northbound on I- 15 and gave chase.
Burke tried to shake the patrol units and tossed money out of the Buick as he entered the unincorporated community of El Cerrito, just south of Corona, according to Ponderm who said a few motorists stopped on the freeway to grab the bills.
Burke exited I-15 at Cajalco Road, where the Buick collided with another vehicle, and was taken into custody without further incident. He suffered minor injuries and was treated at a hospital before being booked into jail. The other driver was not hurt.
Ponder said the money grabbed on the freeway is evidence, and investigators are asking the parties who took it to return it.
According to court records, Burke has prior convictions for robbery, burglary and possession of controlled substances.
–City News Service