Prosecutors drop felony, misdemeanor assault charges

Austin Butler, 20, faces trial on other alleged offenses stemming from July incident in Upper Gwynedd

A 20-year-old Upper Gwynedd man accused of fighting with cops who had responded to a domestic incident that stemmed from the suspect being upset that his driving lesson had been cancelled, according to police, is headed for trial but not on the most serious charges originally filed against him.

Austin Joseph Butler, of the 100 block of Providence Lane, appeared before Whitpain District Judge Robert Sobeck for a preliminary hearing at which prosecutors withdrew two counts of felony aggravated assault and one count of misdemeanor simple assault, records indicate. Sobeck held for trial misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, as well as summary harassment, in connection with the alleged July 14 incident.

Police responded to Butler’s residence that night for a reported physical domestic-in-progress and spoke to a woman who said that Butler, her nephew, had just assaulted both her and her sister, though she characterized the assault as “pushing and shoving,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in district court.

An officer went into the house and encountered Butler standing in the kitchen, and when he told Butler to sit down, Butler charged at the officer while saying to him, “Don’t tell me what to do,” the affidavit states.

The officer, who had a flashlight in his hand, pushed Butler with his hands and ordered him to back up, but Butler grabbed the cop’s flashlight and yanked it away from him, police said.

At that point the officer called for backup, drew his Taser and ordered Butler to drop the flashlight and get on the ground, but Butler refused, saying “Go ahead and Tase me!” before throwing the flashlight across the kitchen, according to the affidavit.

Another Upper Gwynedd patrol officer arrived at the scene and joined in ordering Butler to get on the ground, but Butler continued to refuse, so the two officers attempted to take him into custody, which resulted in a brief struggle, court documents indicate.

After Butler was arrested and searched for weapons, and he was being led out of the house, he again started fighting with the cops, kicking one door shut and then falling into another door before officers were finally able to subdue him and get him into a patrol car without further incident, the affidavit states.

Afterward, Butler’s aunt told police that Butler had been upset because his driving instructor cancelled a lesson that was scheduled for earlier in the day, which led to an argument that escalated to him throwing one of the women’s walker and pushing both women down onto a bed.

Butler is free on $50,000 unsecured bail while awaiting his Nov. 23 formal arraignment in Montgomery County court.