Joseph Butler
A Cedar Springs man is in jail for using a stolen credit card at a local gas station.
According to Cedar Springs Police Chief Roger Parent, Officer Richardson took a report on August 1 of a stolen credit card from a resident who lives on Oak Street. The victim had opened a new Menards Capital One credit card when he purchased an appliance and was told the credit card would be mailed to him within a week, but it never arrived. He then tried to use the credit card account a few weeks later by giving the cashier his credit card account number but was told the account was overdrawn and closed. The victim then obtained a copy of the credit card transactions and reported his credit card being stolen to police.
Chief Parent said that after ruling out the possibility of another family member using the card, they obtained store video from the Speedway Gas Station in Cedar Springs and from Menards on Alpine Ave in Alpine Township. The suspect using the card at both locations was the same person.
Cedar Springs Police immediately recognized the suspect as Joseph Clayton Butler, 33, of Cedar Springs. Butler has a prior criminal history, including being arrested last February for stealing copper wire from an AT&T truck.
Police picked up Butler on August 5 and brought him in for questioning. Chief Parent said the suspect admitted to using the credit card on a number of occasions but denied stealing it from a mailbox.
Butler was arrested and lodged in jail for the use of a stolen credit card at a Cedar Springs gas station. The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office issued a felony warrant for “Financial Transaction devise- steal/retain without permission” and as a “Habitual Offender- 4th Offense Notice.” Bond was set at $2,500.00. Kent County Sheriff detectives have been contacted to seek additional charges for the use of the stolen credit card at the Menards location in their jurisdiction.
