A Madison man was sentenced to five and a half years in prison Monday for attempting to run over a police officer and for a prior beating of a girlfriend.
Gregory Butler, 28, came within two feet of running over Madison Police Department officer Jason Ostrenga June 26, 2008, while trying to avoid arrest. Instead of hitting Ostrenga, Butler ended up smashing his van into East Washington Avenue's Pizza Pit restaurant before speeding off.
""He's a menace to society, and he just doesn't get it,"" Ostrenga said to the judge in court Monday, according to the Capital Times. Ostrenga also told the court he was physically shaken after almost being run over.
The incident started when officers were sent to a shopping mall at 1860 E. Washington Ave. after police were informed Butler was there and possibly armed with a gun. Butler, who was wanted on arrest warrants and for probation violations, was then approached by Ostrenga, who, with his weapon drawn, ordered Butler multiple times to get out of his van.
Butler, however, stayed in the van and rocked the vehicle over a cement hump. The van, with three other passengers inside, then smashed into the front of Pizza Pit.
After pursuing Butler, who was driving down East Washington at speeds of over 60 miles per hour, police eventually called off the chase. Police later found Butler's abandoned van on Dunning Street. Butler was arrested a month later at a Madison residence.
Butler was also convicted of battery charges for beating his girlfriend, which left bruises all over her body and a bite mark on one of her legs.
""I'm not a bad person like they make me seem,"" Butler said at the hearing, according to the Capital Times. Butler also told the court he was high on ecstasy the day of the incident.
