Butler Man Indicted For Attempted Murder Of A Police Officer: Prosecutor

BUTLER, NJ — A Butler man has been indicted on multiple charges, including the attempted murder of a Butler police officer, the Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp said in a press release Friday afternoon.

Dylan Howard, 24, is accused of shoplifting multiple times from hardware stores in March and, at the end of the alleged crime spree, is accused of attempting to murder a police officer, Knapp said.

According to the indictment, Howard allegedly conspired to shoplift from a Lowes on multiple days in March, and is accused of shoplifting from the Butler Lowes on multiple days in that same month.

On March 31, Howard is accused of burglarizing a vehicle, house, and pointing a rifle at a Butler police officer.

Howard, who is also known by the name Hannah, faces a litany of charges, including:

• Second degree possession of a weapon for an uwnlawful purpose (a rifle),
• third degree aggravated assault for allegedly pointing the rifle at the officer
• second degree certain persons not to have weapons, based on a 2012 Morris County weapons offense conviction
• two counts of third degree burglary (into a vehicle and a house),
• and three counts of third and fourth degree theft
• two counts conspired to commit the crime of shoplifting
• two counts fourth degree shoplifting
• first degree attempted murder of a Butler patrol officer.

Three other men also face charges in connection to the shoplifting crimes.

• Michael Nelson: conspiring to commit the crime of shoplifting and two counts of fourth degree theft by deception
• Joseph Connell: conspiring to commit the crime of shoplifting
• David King: conspiring to commit the crime of fourth degree shoplifting and fourth degree theft by deception and receiving stolen property

Howard is being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility in lieu of $190,000 bail.

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