Suspected burglar tried to run
A suspected burglar and gun thief was caught, but not before he made a run of it.
Butler police officers Monday ran down 46-year-old Clinton W. Scott after a brief chase on West Locust Street.
Police had been looking for Scott since July 9, when they got an arrest warrant for him in connection with a break-in at a North Main Street apartment, where he also allegedly stole a handgun.
District Judge William Fullerton arraigned the defendant on felony counts of burglary, trespass and theft, and a misdemeanor count of theft. He's in Butler County Prison on $75,000 bail.
But Scott is facing an additional felony charge of flight to avoid apprehension, trial or punishment for Monday afternoon's failed getaway.
State Constable Bob Geagan was assisting county probation officers looking for another wanted person about 3 p.m. when he happened upon Scott.
“In the corner of my eye,” Geagan recounted Wednesday, “I caught a glimpse of his girlfriend.” She was with the defendant, he said.
Law enforcement officers are familiar with him and one of his habits.
“He's a runner,” Geagan said of Scott.
So not unexpectedly, he took off running once he saw the constable. Geagan notified police that Scott had just ducked into an alley.
Police Capt. Jim Hollobaugh and Patrolman Andrew Niederlander soon spotted the slippery suspect on North Washington Street near West Locust Street, according to court documents.
Following a 250-yard dash, the officers captured Scott. He was subsequently searched, police said, and found with a crack pipe and a used syringe in one of his pants pockets.
Along with flight to avoid apprehension, he is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
In the burglary case, police allege Scott pushed in a window air conditioning unit July 7 to get inside the apartment on the 200 block of North Main Street.
Stolen was a safe, court documents said, that contained a .38-caliber pistol, $2,000 in currency and 200 CO2 cartridges valued at $2,000.
Investigators said surveillance video from a nearby business eventually helped them solve the case.
