Alleged thief bolts following traffic stop

WASILLA -- A man suspected of bilking Blockbuster Video for about $1,100 worth of video games led Alaska State Troopers on a foot chase through the woods near Wal-Mart last Tuesday before being arrested and ultimately charged with two felonies and four misdemeanors and being taken to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. In charging documents, troopers wrote that once the foot chase began, Joshua C. Butler, 24, was tackled twice and escaped before being tackled a third time and handcuffed.

Troopers are charging Butler with felonies for fraudulent use of a credit card and second-degree theft for allegedly using a phony driver's license and VISA card in the name of Bjorn Bork to open a Blockbuster Video rental account. The three misdemeanor charges are for driving without a valid license, resisting arrest and sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance for allegedly having a marijuana pipe in his possession when he was arrested.

Troopers also charged Butler with violating a domestic-violence restraining order which was served six days earlier and was supposed to last 20 days. The restraining order was meant to keep Butler away from Shana L. Cassidy, a Wasilla resident and the owner of the car Butler was driving when troopers spotted him and pulled him over. Cassidy was contacted by troopers to come pick up the car, a 2002 Kia Optima. In an affidavit for the restraining order charge, Troopers wrote that Cassidy was interviewed at her home in Wasilla the day after Butler's arrest. She confirmed Butler had been to her house, but told troopers he was only there to pick up personal items, and that she did not give him permission to take the Kia, according to the affidavit. Troopers also wrote that Cassidy assumed Butler had taken the vehicle, and was not concerned about its disappearance.

Butler has previously faced charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sexual assault of a minor. In May 1997, Butler was indicted on charges of sexual abuse of a minor for having sexual relations with two girls who were 13 and 14 years of age. Butler, 19 at the time, allegedly admitted to the sexual contact, but said he didn't know the girls' ages. Butler eventually pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Butler's driver's license has been under suspension or revocation since 1999, according to a trooper affidavit. That year, he was arrested in January for being under age and possessing alcohol, just four months before he would turn 21. His license was initially scheduled to be reinstated in 2005, but in 1999 he was convicted of DWI which pushed the reinstatement back to 2006, according to troopers.

Butler currently faces charges pressed by the Valdez police last June for DWI, refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test and driving without a license, according to troopers. Troopers also wrote in one affidavit that Butler was convicted in 2001 of resisting arrest, furnishing alcohol to minors and sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. Butler is currently being held at Mat-Su Pre-Trial in lieu of a $20,000 cash-only bail.