High school students help police catch wanted man
A group of teenagers, off from school for Easter weekend, assisted police in catching a man on the run Thursday afternoon on the city's west side.
Matthew L. Summerville, 36, who has no listed address, was arrested around 2:15 p.m. by city officers with help from two county sheriff deputies and state troopers.
City officers were in pursuit of Summerville, who had two bench warrants out for his arrest, near the intersection of West Brady Street and North Chestnut Street around 2 p.m. and radioed for assistance.
The teenagers, most of whom go to Butler Intermediate High School but were off from school Thursday for spring vacation, were sitting on the steps behind the Broad Street School next to the playground.
They said they saw Summerville run through the backyard of a house at the corner of Brady Street and Broad Street, frightening a couple young children who were jumping on a trampoline.
“They screamed, so he ran out of the yard and then I saw him jump in the creek,” said Madison Martin, who lives nearby.
They said Summerville jumped into a culvert that drains into Sullivan Run and went into a tunnel, which goes beneath the school's playground and comes out on the east side of Broad Street.
The end of the tunnel where he entered is about 6 feet high, but the far end is less than 2 feet.
Soon police were on the scene asking the group if they had seen a man running, to which they quickly yelled back “he's in the water.”
Police, including a city canine unit, covered both ends of the tunnel and were yelling to Summerville to crawl out and surrender at the Broad Street end.
“There was no way out. The cops were coming from each and every way,” Alexis Dean said.
Officers did not draw their weapons, but they had Summerville lay on his stomach in the creek bed until they could search him and put him in cuffs.
He was taken away in a sheriff's department vehicle, and police made sure to give a “thank you” to the group of students who offered help and watched the arrest play out from the sidewalk.
Summerville, who was formerly listed as living in Butler and Karns City, had two bench warrants for probation violations. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation in August of 2016 after pleading to guilty to a tampering with physical evidence charge filed by city police. He has multiple previous convictions in Butler County including retail theft, DUI, drug possession and simple assault, according to court records.
He was taken to Butler County Prison and city police will determine if he will be charged with additional crimes in connection with Thursday's chase, County Sheriff Mike Slupe said.
