RALEIGH - The man shot by a Raleigh police officer Tuesday following a downtown car chase was released from the Durham County jail a week earlier after completing a 45-day sentence for fraudulent use of a friend's ATM card.

Renford E. Butler, 34, remained in critical condition Wednesday at WakeMed's Raleigh campus after undergoing surgery, said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue.

Butler has not yet been charged with a crime related to the chase, which police say began after he used a knife to rob the cab driver who had driven him to Dorothea Dix Hospital, then hijacked the cab.

Police say Butler drove the cab at speeds of up to 90 mph through downtown Raleigh just before rush hour. The chase ended when he crashed into a van belonging to a heating and air conditioning company at the intersection of Dawson and Lane streets. Butler fled on foot, before, police say, he was shot while brandishing an XActo knife, which is often used by hobbyists.

Officer J. Bloodworth, who shot Butler, is on administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation.

It is not clear why Butler had asked to be driven from Durham, where he lived, to the state mental hospital in Raleigh.

Mark VanSciver, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday he could not comment on whether Butler had been a patient there, citing patient confidentiality laws.

Records show Butler pleaded guilty in a Durham County court on July 1 to a misdemeanor charge related to using an ATM card to obtain $300 without permission.

A judge gave Butler a 45-day suspended sentence. But after having spent 24 days in jail awaiting trial, Butler elected to serve out the remaining 21 days rather than accept a year on probation.

Court records show he was ordered to pay $300 in restitution to Nikita McDougal and $95 to Domino's Pizza.

McDougal of Durham had little to say about Butler on Wednesday.

"I don't want to discuss it, because there's a lot of detectives calling me wanting me to give information on him, but nobody wants to give me information on how he's doing," said McDougal, who said she was Butler's friend.

Butler's lawyer, Julie Linehan, said she was "utterly shocked" Butler could have committed the acts that reportedly led to his being shot.

"I really liked him," said Linehan, a Durham defense attorney. "He is smart. There is nothing in his record that would indicate he'd do something like this, nothing involving weapons."

Criminal records show that since 1999 Butler was twice convicted of assaulting a female. In 2000, he was convicted of resisting a public officer.

Linehan was appointed by the court in June to represent Butler after he said he could not afford an attorney. On the paperwork needed to qualify for a public defender, Butler said he worked at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, which is adjacent to Dix Hospital. Butler said he earned $1,200 a month.

Sughrue, the Raleigh police spokesman, declined Wednesday to discuss the distance between Butler and Bloodworth before the officer fired his weapon.

Police radio traffic indicated Butler was armed with a handgun and a knife.

Sughrue would not say whether police recovered a handgun from Butler. Nor would he say how many times the officer fired.

Sughrue said that information and any other updates would be part of a standard report police are required to submit to the city council five days after an officer is involved in a shooting.

Police radio reports released Wednesday indicated officers spotted the stolen Durham's Best cab at 3:49 p.m. going south on King Charles Road toward Milburnie Road and Raleigh Boulevard.

"Yellow vehicle, occupied by 6-5 suspect," an officer said, using the numeric term for an armed robbery suspect. "Officers in pursuit."

Police sirens wailed in the background.

Rocketing west on Oakwood Avenue, the cab was traveling at least 90 mph, police said.

The cab struck an object as it sped around the corner of Person and Lane streets near the governor's mansion. The pursuing officers thought Butler was going to crash into the mansion.

Heavily damaged, the cab streaked toward downtown. As the cab neared the Greyhound bus station, it collided with the van. Butler jumped from the vehicle and tried to flee on foot toward Lane and Dawson streets.

An officer was asking for a description of the suspect when another officer yelled, "Shots fired."

Also Tuesday, a squad car driven by a Raleigh police officer responding to the shooting collided with a car driven by James Clifton at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Grantland Drive.

According to an accident report released Wednesday, Officer Lea Younker had her cruiser's lights and sirens on when she struck the rear driver's side of Clifton's 1993 Nissan. Both Younker and Clifton were taken to WakeMed.

Kelly Clarke, spokeswoman for the hospital, said Younker was treated and released Tuesday.

Clifton was listed in fair condition Wednesday afternoon. Police cited him with driving with a revoked license and not wearing his seat belt.

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