Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Former Police Office Pleads Guilty

A former Prescott police officer has pled guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and given a year's probation.

Tyrone Butler, 30, of Prescott, along with his cousins, Channing Butler, 21, and Henry Lee Butler, Jr., 23, had been charged with committing a terroristic act and two counts of aggravated assault after being involved in a high-speed car chase in which T. Butler, allegedly fired a weapon from a car at another vehicle.

The incident occurred on July 20, when the trio was at the Hale Ave. Apartments.

Around midnight, a vehicle with Rodrigues Nelson, 20, of Hope, and Ronald Booker, 17, also of Hope, pulled beside the Butlers, with Nelson reportedly asking T. Butler about buying a stereo system.

According to reports at the time, T. Butler told the two to get out of Prescott.

However, when the two left, the Butlers gave chase, with witnesses telling officers the Butler vehicle was bumper-to-bumper with the Nelson car.

Booker and Nelson thought they heard gunfire at the time, swerved the vehicle and tried to get away from the Butlers. The pursuit, though, continued.

Booker told officers he saw muzzle flashes from the Butler car during the chase. Nelson, who was driving, lost control of the car on I-30, with it spinning around and coming face-to-face with the Butlers, and saw T. Butler with a weapon.

The subsequent investigation showed what appeared to be bullet strikes on the Nelson car along the right half of the trunk and right rear window.

All three Butlers pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, a class D felony with a sentence of up to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Each was given a year's probation, fined $500 and court costs.