Greene County fugitive arrested in West Virginia

A Greene County man accused of running an illegal chop shop – and who had possible ties to Mexican drug cartels – was arrested in West Virginia over the weekend after being on the run for weeks.

Jimmy Lee Butterfield, 43, of Perry Township, was located Saturday by Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies while visiting a gas station near Morgantown, W.Va.

Greene Regional police Chief Will DeForte said the deputies were preparing to raid a house in the area where Butterfield was suspected of staying overnight when he pulled up to the gas station in a pickup truck near where they were staging. Deputies surrounded his vehicle, but had to break one of the truck’s windows to arrest him when he refused to get out.

Butterfield is being held at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County, W.Va., while awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.

Greene Regional police charged him with numerous felonies after officers raided his Perry Township home in the 200 block of Dunkard Avenue on July 2 while investigating a motorcycle theft out of Cumberland Township. While there, DeForte said they discovered suspected crystal meth with the same packaging that is typically found coming from pharmaceutical labs in Mexico.

“The (drug cartel) connection here is very real,” DeForte said.

The suspected drugs were sent to the state police crime lab for evaluation, and DeForte said they’re awaiting the results before filing any drug-related charges against Butterfield. Police did charge him Aug. 1 with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, destruction of vehicle identification numbers, owning a chop shop, prohibited possession of a firearm and escape in connection with the alleged chop shop operations. Police searched a home and a detached garage, where they found three motorcycles and an all-terrain vehicle, all with vehicle identification numbers that had been destroyed, DeForte said.

Butterfield has been on the run since the raid on his house until the Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies located him in the Morgantown area after receiving tips from confidential informants, DeForte said.

“He was staying at anybody’s house who would let him hang his hat,” DeForte said. “He was bouncing around, but most of the area where he was staying was across the border in the Morgantown area.”

Jail records show he was booked Saturday night and is being held without bond. Butterfield is not facing any charges in West Virginia, meaning his extradition back to Pennsylvania can be expedited.