Police arrested a man yesterday evening for allegedly driving erratically, then threatening another motorist with a crossbow during a road rage outburst.

According to investigators, officers responded to a Shoprite parking lot at Frankford Avenue and Knorr Street in Mayfair for a report of a person with a weapon around 6:30 p.m. They arrested Kenneth Butterworth, 44, of the 3400 block of
Friendship Street a short time later.

A man told them that while he was driving west on Harbison Avenue, he saw a man, later identified as Butterworth, at the wheel of a Dodge Stratus that was weaving in and out of traffic. The man said he changed lanes to the left of the Dodge, passed it and changed back to the right lane in front of the car.

The victim told investigators that Butterworth then changed to the left lane, pulled up beside him and pointed a crossbow at him from his window. The man called 911 and followed the Dodge to the parking lot, where he said Butterworth again pointed the crossbow at him. He fled the area.

Arriving officers stopped a gold Dodge Stratus about a half mile away from the parking lot on the 4000 block of Cottman Avenue. The victim met police there and positively identified both Butterworth and the crossbow he allegedly possessed.

Police recovered the weapon, which they said was loaded with one arrow. Butterworth is charged with assault, reckless endangerment and possession of an instrument of crime, according to court documents. He was arraigned at 10:30 a.m. and bail was set at $35,000.

Butterworth was sentenced in 2006 to six to 23 months in prison and one year’s probation after pleading guilty to theft, court documents show. He was sentenced again in 2007 and 2009, each time to nine to 23 months in jail, for violating his probation on that charge.

According to a Facebook page purporting to belong to the suspect, his interests include tactical shooting, hiking and camping, blowgun shooting, fishing and archery.