Zachary McDonnell

A suspected drunken dirt biker is accused of leading Butler police on a high-speed chase without his lights on for several miles.

Zachary T. McDonnell, 24, of Middlesex Township was arrested shortly after 2:30 a.m. but not before traveling through three municipalities.

McDonnell is being held in the Butler County Prison on felony and other charges.

Butler police Sgt. Ben Spangler was on patrol about 2:20 a.m. when he spotted a dirt bike traveling southbound on Main Street without lights.

Moments earlier, Spangler learned that police in Butler and Penn townships were looking for the same bike, according to court documents.

The city officer activated his emergency lights and siren while chasing the biker, later identified as McDonnell, across the General Butler Bridge and onto Route 8 south.

The defendant traveled under the Picklegate bridge before turning into the main entrance at AK Steel. He made a U-turn and “grazed” the right rear side of Spangler’s cruiser, documents said.

McDonnell resumed his getaway try south on Route 8 at a “high rate of speed,” police said.

He traveled though Butler Township before finally pulling over on Route 8 across from Diehl Automotive in Penn Township.

Spangler said the suspect had a “strong odor” of alcohol coming from him. He was taken to the state police barracks in Butler for a breath test, which he refused.

District Judge Sue Haggerty later arraigned McDonnell on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude police.

He also is charged with driving under the influence, driving at an unsafe speed, driving an unregistered and uninspected vehicle, driving without insurance and reckless driving.

He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail following arraignment.