Suspect faces charges
A 36-year-old man is accused of trying to disarm a Butler police officer inside a city store Saturday afternoon.
It took five officers to arrest the 6-foot, 4-inch tall and 240-pound suspect after two Taser stun guns failed to incapacitate him, police said.
Matthew R. Fleeger of Butler is in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail. He faces felony assault and other charges.
Officer Cheryl Litz was in the Marathon gas station investigating a prior incident about 2:10 p.m. when the suspect approached her from behind and grabbed at the grip of her service pistol, according to court documents.
Fleeger pulled at the gun but Litz pushed him away and called for help on her radio, police said. She also drew her Taser.
The defendant, however, “lunged” again for the pistol, forcing the officer to push him away a second time, documents said.
He refused the officer’s orders to get on the ground and keep his hands out his pocket. Instead, he ran to the other side of the store. Moments later, police said, he “charged at” Litz.
The officer deployed her Taser, which struck the suspect’s chest area. But his thick coat defeated the Taser and he ran out of the store.
Litz followed him and managed to push him to the ground, police said. Several backup officers got there but Fleeger remained combative, documents said. A second officer deployed his Taser but to no avail.
In all, it took five officers to gain control of the defendant. However, even while in handcuffs and being taken to an awaiting cruiser, the suspect allegedly grabbed the handle of another officer’s holstered Taser and pulled on it.
No injuries were reported.
District Judge Sue Haggerty later that night arraigned Fleeger on felony charges of aggravated assault and attempting to disarm a police officer, a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest and a summary charge of criminal mischief.
