Prosecutors dismiss 2 cases against man charged with fleeing police
The Butler County District Attorney dropped two cases against a Butler man accused of running from city police after finding there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him.
On March 6, police were searching for suspects in an assault when they stopped James Howard-George, 27. He allegedly ran away from police and left his backpack behind, which police said had a gun in it.
A few weeks later, on March 31, police arrested Howard-George after an alleged foot chase. For the first incident, Howard-George was charged with possession of a firearm without a carry license, a felony, and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and in the second case he was charged with flight to avoid apprehension.
But Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella requested earlier this month a judge drop the two cases, citing a lack of “prosecutorial merit” in both of them.
Howard-George was previously paroled for his part in helping to burn and hide the body of Melissa Barto, who was murdered by his friend, Ishemer Ramsey, in 2017.
This is a breaking news report — read the full article in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.
