UPDATE: Man Arrested on Suspicion of Murder in Fatal Crash After Police Pursuit Starts in Beaumont

A San Jacinto man was behind bars Friday on suspicion of murder and evading a peace officer in the wake of a police pursuit that started in Beaumont and ended Thursday in a two-vehicle crash on the east edge of San Jacinto.

Charles Thomas Durnin, 21, was held on $1 million bail at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, accordiong to inmate records.

Fatally injured in the crash was Mike Wayne Morgan, 57, of Hemet, who was not involved in the pursuit, according to coroner's investigators and Beaumont spokeswoman Darci Mulvihill.

The pursuit started about 11:15 a.m. Thursday at 4th Street and Beaumont Avenue, when a Beaumont police officer tried to pull over a Ford F-150 pickup for a traffic violation, Mulvihill said.

The pickup driver did not stop and led officers south on Highway 79, then southeast on Gilman Springs Road, Mulvihill said.

The pickup driver then "began driving recklessly at a high rate of speed," Mulvihill said.

Police officers lost sight of the truck and were preparing to return to Beaumont when they saw a plume of smoke. They went to it and found a crash involving the pickup and another vehicle near the entrance to Soboba Casino, Mulvihill said.

Firefighters responded and found two vehicles with four patients trapped at Soboba Road and Juaro Canyon Road, said Cheri Patterson of Cal Fire-Riverside County.

Three were critically injured, one had moderate injuries, and all four were transported to hospitals by ambulance.

Morgan was pronounced dead at 12:32 p.m. at Hemet Valley Medical Center in Hemet, according to coroner's investigators.

The driver of the pickup was identified as Durnin. He was treated and then booked for murder in Riverside, Mulvihill said.

The other suspects were identified as Michael Leonard, 27, of Perris, and Vicente Reyes, 23, of Banning. Leonard was booked in Riverside and Reyes was booked into the jail ward at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

Leonard and Reyes were both found to be on parole and charged with felony weapons possession, Mulvihill said. Leonard was held without bail Friday.

The California Highway Patrol was investigating the crash.

Anyone with information about the pursuit and crash was urged to call Beaumont police at (951) 769-8500. Information can also be sent to crimetips@beaumontpd.org or reported anonymously to WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME.