POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A police chase across both Polk and Hillsborough counties Friday night ended in an arrest involving pills, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana, officials said.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) troopers monitoring traffic along I-4 noticed a Volkswagen sedan traveling westbound near Milepost 35 in Polk County at 119 mph in a 70 mph speed zone and driving recklessly.
The troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the Volkswagen increased its speed and fled from the troopers with its lights turned off.
The vehicle entered Hillsborough County and reached speeds over 130 mph, continuing until Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where the suspect exited the interstate and traveled westbound.
The vehicle’s tires eventually disintegrated, forcing the suspect to stop at East Lake Avenue and North 34th Street.
The suspect, 20-year-old John Dylan Butler of Apollo Beach, Florida, then surrendered.
Following Butler’s arrest, troopers found drug paraphernalia, 886 oxycodone pills, and a large amount of marijuana.
Butler was taken to the Polk County Jail and charged with fleeing & eluding, reckless driving, and several felony drug charges.
