Greene County Fugitive Arrested in West Virginia

A Greene County man accused of running an illegal chop shop — and with 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 encountered by Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies Saturday while visiting a gas station near Morgantown, West Virginia.

Greene Regional Police Chief Will DeForte said officers were preparing to raid a home in the area where Butterfield was believed to have spent the night when he arrived in a pickup truck at the gas station near where they were stationed. Officers 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, West Virginia, pending extradition to Pennsylvania.

Greene Regional Police have charged him with numerous crimes after officers raided his Perry Township home in the 200 block of Dunkard Avenue on July 2 while investigating a motorcycle theft in Cumberland Township. DeForte said they discovered what they believed to be crystal meth in the same packaging commonly found in pharmaceutical labs in Mexico.

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

The suspected drugs were sent to the state police forensic lab for evaluation, and DeForte said they are awaiting the results before filing drug-related charges against Butterfield. Police charged him Aug. 1 with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, destroying vehicle identification numbers, possessing a chop shop, unlawful possession of a firearm and escape in connection with the alleged chop shop activities. Police searched a home and a detached garage, where they found three motorcycles and an SUV, all with vehicle identification numbers that had been destroyed, DeForte said.

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

“He stayed at everybody’s house that would let him hang his hat,” DeForte said. “He bounced around, but most of the area he stayed in was across the border in the Morgantown area.”

Jail records show he was arrested Saturday night and is being held without bail. Butterfield is not facing charges in West Virginia, meaning his extradition to Pennsylvania could be expedited.