IRVINE, Calif. (AP) -- A man suspected in perhaps as many as seven bank robberies led police on a high-speed pursuit for 30 miles Thursday, traveling the wrong way down a freeway at one point before hitting a spike strip and then fatally shooting himself in the head, police said.
The suspect, who police identified as Clifford Jerome Marks, 34, was believed to have held up a Wells Fargo bank in Irvine shortly after noon, police Cmdr. Dave Freedland said. Witnesses told police he approached a teller, pulled up his shirt to reveal a pistol in his waistband and demanded money.
Police, who believe Marks fled with more than $8,000, said he may have been responsible for as many as seven Orange County bank robberies since January. He was believed to be the “Whisper Bandit,” named for the way he demanded money at the banks.
Authorities were given a description of the suspect’s car from a customer who followed the robber out of the bank. When an officer tried to pull the vehicle over, it fled, Freedland said.
At one point Marks drove south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 for several miles before switching to the southbound lanes of another freeway and rejoining the I-5 heading south.
At times he pointed a gun at other motorists and police, said Officer David Ferrer of the California Highway Patrol, which assisted in the pursuit.
Ferrer said the car was traveling about 100 mph when it hit a spike strip authorities placed near the Camp Pendleton Marine Base near San Onofre.
As the car slowed to about 40 mph, Ferrer said, Marks shot himself in the head. The car then veered off the road and crashed on the freeway shoulder.