Suspect in a hit-and-run accident taken into custody late Wednesday

A suspect in a hit and run accident that occurred in January in Lyons was identified during an investigation by a Greene County sheriff's deputy. A criminal case was filed against the suspect and he was summoned to appear in court but he was a no show. A warrant was then issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody late Wednesday night.

Breven Riley Butler

Breven Riley Butler, 19, Lyons, was arrested by Deputy Logan Milligan of the Greene County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday night, April 27, as a result of an investigation led by Deputy Harvey Holt.

Deputy Holt responded to a hit-and-run accident in Lyons back on January 9 around 11:47 a.m. During the course of his investigation, he was able to identify the suspect driver who had left the scene as Breven Butler and a criminal case was filed against Butler in late February. Butler received a summons to appear in Greene Superior Court for his initial hearing on April 14 but he was a no show so a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody yesterday, April 27.

The driver who called 911 said he was following the suspect vehicle and he was able to provide the plate number of the vehicle that had left the scene. Greene County Dispatch was able to identify the suspect vehicle as a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer even though the plate was listed as inactive. They were also able to provide the name of a woman the vehicle had been registered to earlier.

Deputy Holt interviewed both the driver who called 911 and his passenger. The passenger explained they were heading north on State Road 67 in the Lyons area when they came to an intersection and started to slow down. Another vehicle was at the intersection and slowed down but did not stop. The passenger said the other vehicle pulled out in front of them and they struck the vehicle. The other vehicle went a little further and then stopped. The passenger said the driver who called 911 got out and two men got out of the suspect vehicle. He didn't hear what was said but it looked like the two men wanted to fight so his driver stepped back and the two men got back into their car and took off. The passenger said he took a photograph of the suspect vehicle at that time and he described the driver of the other vehicle to be around 16 to 18 years old with dirty blonde long hair.

The driver who called 911 said he was northbound in his Lincoln MKZ when the other vehicle approached an intersection then pulled out in front of him and he hit the rear bumper area on the passenger side with the front of his vehicle on the passenger side. He also said the vehicle stopped then went forward again then stopped again. He said when he got out of his vehicle and told the driver of the suspect vehicle that he pulled out in front of him, the other driver said he didn't and then another man exited the suspect vehicle and came around to the driver’s side so the driver who called 911 stepped back. He said he told them they could let the insurance and the police take care of this but the driver of the suspect vehicle called him a “b**** a** n****”.

When the deputy contacted the woman that the plate was last registered to, she confirmed she used to own the Chevy Trailblazer but she sold it several months earlier. She said she traded it for a motorcycle on October 26, 2021, to a young man named Breven Butler. She said they made the exchang in Lyons because Butler said he lived in Lyons. She said she found the motorcycle on Facebook. She said when she traded the vehicles, she left her license plate on the vehicle but she had it deactivated.

Deputy Holt’s investigation revealed that Butler had a suspended driver’s license with his last known address in Lyons. A neighbor confirmed that the suspect vehicle stays in the area but they could not provide an apartment number for Butler. According to Deputy Holt, Butler's driver’s license photograph looked like the same man as the photographs on his Facebook account.

Deputy Holt was also able to obtain a video from the area that showed the two vehicles and the damage to both vehicles.

Then on January 12, Deputy Holt found an ad on the Greene County and Surrounding Area Online Yard Sales site on Facebook listing a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer for sale for $4200. It was located in Lyons and had been listed by Butler. Photographs in the ad showed all four sides of the vehicle and showed the damage to the rear passenger side bumper consistent with the damage in the photographs taken during the initial accident by the passenger in the Lincoln. The photographs on Facebook also showed the same license plate number.

On February 28, the Greene County Prosecutors Office filed a criminal case against Butler in Greene Superior Court and a summons was sent to Butler ordering him to appear at an initial hearing on April 14 at 8:30 AM. The hearing was vacated when Butler failed to appear.

A warrant was issued for Butler's arrest and after he was taken into custody, he was booked into the Greene County Jail at 9:18 PM last night with bond set at $5000 surety with 10% cash allowed. He posted $500 and was released on April 28.

The initial hearing has now been rescheduled for May 9 on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, a Class B misdemeanor.