John E. Butler, 40, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison for illegally possessing a gun and trying to evade arrest after running into a car with his electric bike in Conshohocken on June 4, 2024, Mainline Media News reported.

The incident took place at the intersection of Harry Street and the SEPTA railroad crossing near Washington Street.

Butler faces charges of person not to possess a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, evading arrest, resisting arrest and failing duties at stop sign, Mainline Media said.

An investigation began when Conshohocken police were dispatched to the Harry Street location for a report of a collision between a vehicle and a man on a bicycle. A female driver called 911 and reported that she saw a firearm on her windshield.

Officials determined that Butler went through a stop sign then struck and damaged the woman’s vehicle as she entered the intersection. After the collision, the firearm “fell out and landed on the vehicle’s hood near the windshield,” Mainline Media wrote. Butler then took the handgun from the hood, put it in his pocket and said, “[police] can’t know about that.”

Butler fled on foot after police arrived. He ran on railroad tracks and jumped a fence before he was stopped.

Butler did not have a firearm permit and his criminal history includes a previous drug conviction, Mainline Media said.