LARGO, FL—A 49-year-old fugitive wanted in connection with a 2007 child-related crime in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was taken into custody this week in Largo. Donnie Phelps, who also went by the names Gregory Phelps and Jacob Allen Bush, was arrested without incident at 869 6th Avenue NE on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. This residence is approximately 1,200 feet from the Largo Police Department headquarters.
Phelps was initially arrested in 2006 and faced multiple charges. According to the Bowling Green Daily News, on September 21, 2006, Phelps was involved in a high-speed chase with Kentucky State Police. During the pursuit, he exited a moving vehicle while carrying a 3-year-old child. He was subdued with pepper spray and taken into custody. He was charged with first-degree fleeing and evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief, and theft by failure to make required disposition (Bowling Green Daily News, Sept. 22, 2006).
Court records indicate Phelps absconded while on bail and has been a fugitive. In March 2007, Phelps was indicted for first-degree bail jumping in Warren County, Kentucky, after failing to appear in court. The Kentucky State Police continued circulating his photo on social media, with the most recent post in December 2024.
In 2010, Phelps was indicted by a Warren County Grand Jury on charges of first-degree rape (child under 12 years of age), first-degree sodomy and there are indications of a $75,000 bond.
After Phelps came to Florida, a mutual acquaintance arranged housing for Phelps with Robert and Travis Coe at their home at 869 6th Avenue NE. While in Florida, Phelps used the alias Jacob Allen Bush. The Coes, who had lost an infant child many years prior, reportedly treated Phelps like family. After Robert’s death, followed by Travis’s passing a few years later in approximately 2022, home ownership was transferred to Phelps on June 3, 2022, for zero dollars. The home was reported signed over to Phelps according to Travis’s will. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s Office has the home’s owner as Jacob Allen Bush.
A mutual acquaintance of the Coes discovered a document or some other item containing his real name, Donnie Phelps, while cleaning the home after Travis’s death. After confronting him, Phelps confirmed his real identity, conducted an online search, and discovered Phelps’ background. The information was then forwarded to the Largo Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. They were assisted by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Neighbors witnessed Phelps’s arrest in the morning hours on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Multiple law enforcement agencies arrived, placed Phelps into handcuffs, and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail for the active warrant out of Kentucky. Neighbors described him as very kind and pleasant, and he assisted many of them when asked. Phelps did automotive work on vehicles, and many vehicles continue to be located all around the home, including on the driveway and lawn.
He is currently held on the warrant issued by the Kentucky State Police and is awaiting extradition back to Kentucky.