A Worthington man pleaded guilty to charges of failure to comply and OVI Monday afternoon for leading police on a high- speed chase in July.
Shannon Lee, Butler, 26, appeared in Delaware County Common Pleas Court Monday afternoon and entered a guilty plea to a count of failure to comply with an order or signal of police officer, a third-degree felony and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The pleas were entered as part of a plea agreement with prosecutor and a second OVI charge was dismissed.
Butler told Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger that on July 26 he had been at a friend’s house watching sports when he left to drive back home.
“I thought I was fine, but I guess not,” Butler said. “Midway home it kicked in. I don’t remember anything but waking up in jail.”
Krueger asked Assistant Delaware County Prosecutor Cory Goe to provide the details.
Goe said that City of Delaware Police received a call about a hit-skip accident on U.S. 23 just before midnight. Goe said police attempted to pull Butler over but Butler fled police onto Central Avenue at speeds exceeding 80 mph. He said Butler made a sharp turn at the Speedway on Central Avenue and drove across the street, striking a fence then a gate and finally hitting a tree in front of Grady Memorial Hospital.
Goe said that Butler was then taken into custody and said that he had a blood-alcohol level of .223.
Butler said those actions weren’t something he would do, but since he has no memory of what happened and the “evidence is clear” he plead guilty.
According to the plea agreement, prosecutors and Butler’s attorney Kingston Malley Jr would jointly recommend that he be sentenced to three years of community control.
Krueger accepted the guilty plea and added that the sentence would also come with a driver’s license suspension of at least three years.
Krueger then ordered a pre-sentence report and scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 6 at 3:30 p.m.
Butler posted bail after appearing in Delaware Municipal Court in July and was not in jail Monday.
