ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested a 45-year-old man and charged him with multiple crimes in connection to two incidents, an assault and a robbery, according to arrest reports.

Edward Jerome Butler, 45, was charged with fraudulent-illegal use of credit cards, two counts of larceny, battery, aggravated assault and robbery. While searching for Butler, the ECSO warned hey may be ‘armed and dangerous.’

In August 2022, a deputy responded to Washburn St. in Pensacola in reference to a battery. A woman told the deputy she was “choked and punched” by Butler, who she did not know. Butler lived with the woman’s boyfriend, according to the arrest report.

The woman told the deputy she fell asleep while cooking dinner and was woken up by Butler “in an aggressive manner.” An argument started about “burning food.”

The woman went back to sleep, but then was woken up again by Butler complaining about cereal being spilled on the floor. Another argument started then Butler started choking her and then “struck her on the right side of her face with a closed hand approximately two times.”

The woman told her daughter to call police, but Butler took the phone away, according to the arrest report.

The deputy said children were present during the incident and the Florida Department of Children and Families were notified.

The deputy said they then spoke with another person who provided a verbal statement backing up the woman’s claims against Butler.

A few day later, Butler was identified by the woman during a photo line-up.

Second incident

According to the arrest report, Butler was then found to be in possession of an “unidentified vehicle that became involved in a deliberate motor vehicle accident to cause the victim’s vehicle to stop while travelling south on Hwy 97,” in December 2022.

Butler and another vehicle got into a crash. The driver of the other vehicle stopped the car, pulled to the side of the road and put on the emergency flashers. Butler then walked up to the passenger side of the car, opened the door and threatened to shoot the driver if he did not give him money, according to the arrest report.

The victim then pulled out his own gun, but it was snatched by Butler. The victims complied and Butler took roughly $8,000 from the victims. Butler and another suspect went back to their car and fled the area.

A few hours later, Butler used a stolen credit card to withdraw $600 at a convenience store in three separate transactions from the same ATM. Another stolen credit card was used to withdraw an additional $64.

In January 2023, deputies obtained surveillance footage from the store. The deputy saw a car that had “damage to the front driver’s side fender and sunroof,” pull into the parking lot. The description of Butler from the crash matched the description of the man going into the convenience store to withdraw money.

A day later, a bulletin was created “using the photo of the car that the suspect exited prior to completing the ATM transactions,” according to the arrest report.

Deputies located the car and found an ATM receipt matching the amount withdrawn from the victim’s card. The victim confirmed it was his card by telling the deputy the last four digits on the account.

The vehicle was then towed to ECSO for processing.

Two days after that, the owner of the car came to the Sheriff’s Office to get his car. He told deputies he picked up Butler in Pensacola on the day of the crash and gave him a ride so he could use the ATM. He told deputies he only knew Butler as “Jeronimo.”

Through further investigation and a photo lineup, Butler was identified as the suspect.

Butler was booked into the Escambia County Jail on Tuesday, March 28 on a $31,700 bond.