CENTRALIA — The suspect in Saturday night’s armed robbery of Biggies Café on IL 161 is apparently in a St. Louis area hospital after being injured in a crash early Monday morning while fleeing from Centralia police.

Biggies was robbed at gunpoint around 11:30 Saturday night and the suspect fled from the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. The Marion County Sheriff’s Department secured surveillance video of the suspect and his vehicle, which they distributed to area law enforcement agencies.

Then around 3 a.m. Monday, a Centralia police officer spotted a vehicle matching the vehicle seen in the video that was being driven by a man who looked like the suspect and wearing clothes similar to the suspect.

The officer noted a number of violations and attempted a traffic stop near Fifth and Chestnut but the driver instead reportedly fled.

The pursuit then moved onto US Highway 51 southbound where speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour. As the pursuit continued south, the 37-year-old suspect reportedly began tossing cash out the window of the vehicle.

As the chase moved out of Centralia and through Richview, the suspect apparently was unaware that in Ashley U.S. 51 becomes a “T” intersection at Highway 15. That’s where he reportedly crashed his vehicle.

According to Lieutenant Andy Garden of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, the suspect was airlifted to a St. Louis area hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the crash.

The case has been presented to Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth to secure an arrest warrant for the man. His name is being withheld until the warrant is issued.