A Butler businessman Thursday evening caught a suspected burglar in the act. The suspect got away, but not for long.

City police a short time later arrested 59-year-old James A. Freed on charges he broke into an apartment above the Burger Hut on North Main Street.

Freed, who has no known address, is being held in the Butler County Prison.

Mark Denny told police that he was headed to his hamburger shop in Butler Township about 5 p.m. when he passed his Burger Hut in downtown Butler. He saw something suspicious and stopped.

The back door leading to the upstairs apartment, where his daughter lives, was open, police said. He yelled for his daughter but got no answer.

That’s when he went in, according to court documents, and found “an unknown man with an arm full of clothes.”

The 64-year-old Denny asked the intruder what he was doing there. The suspect claimed it was his apartment and then cursed at the owner.

The man also threatened to assault Denny, according to the police affidavit.

The suspect took off as Denny called for police.

Patrolman Myles Bizub quickly spotted a man, who matched the burglar’s description, at South Jackson and West New Castle streets.

The suspect, identified as Freed, was wearing a hooded sweat shirt and sweat pants that Denny’s daughter later identified as hers, police said. The clothes were taken from the woman’s apartment.

District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Freed on charges of burglary and theft. He is in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail.