A Woburn man accused of stealing a car from a motorist, leading police on a chase, and briefly escaping after crashing in Dorchester was held on high bail and sent for a mental health evaluation following his arraignment today, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

MATTHEW BURKE (D.O.B. 1/12/78) was arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court today on charges of carjacking and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon –the stolen motor vehicle – for his alleged actions in Boston’s South End yesterday. Suffolk prosecutors recommended that he be held on $100,000 cash bail; Judge Edward Redd set bail at $48,000.

At the request of defense attorney Robert Solomon, Redd also ordered Burke to undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital.

Prosecutors said Burke approached the victim, a 62-year-old South End man, who was in his Lexus RX300 sport-utility vehicle on Shawmut Avenue shortly before 8:30 yesterday morning. Apparently using a ruse, Burke allegedly got the victim out of the vehicle, pushed him, and jumped inside. The victim’s hand was stuck in the door for a short time as Burke allegedly drove away.

A Boston Police officer working a detail nearby heard the victim scream and saw him being dragged 20 to 30 feet as the car accelerated. The officer followed the vehicle through the South End on his department motorcycle with other Boston Police officers also responding to give chase.

Burke allegedly ignored their lights and sirens, drove at a high rate of speed, swerved onto the sidewalk at times, and refused to stop for red lights. He allegedly turned onto Interstate 93, travelling south and driving so fast at times that the officers had to hang back so as not to endanger civilian lives and safety.

After one group of officers briefly stopped a different Lexus RX300, another group observed the stolen SUV crashed and abandoned near a concrete barrier near the Columbia Road exit. Outside the vehicle was a pair of white sandals. Civilian witnesses provided the officers with the operator’s path of flight, but he was not to be found.

A short time later, Boston Police detectives responded to Boston Medical Center for a report of a barefoot man who matched the assailant’s description and had claimed to have been hit by a car. The victim, a witness, and the first responding officer all travelled to the hospital and made identifications of Burke as the man who had stolen the SUV.

Burke will return to court on July 8.