LARGO – A 49-year-old man wanted in connection with a 2007 child-related crime in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was apprehended this week in Largo. Donnie Phelps, also known as Gregory Phelps and Jacob Allen Bush, was arrested without incident at 869 6th Avenue NE on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. This residence is about 1,200 feet from the Largo Police Department headquarters.
Phelps was arrested in 2006 on multiple charges. According to the Bowling Green Daily News, on September 21, 2006, Phelps was involved in a high-speed pursuit with Kentucky State Police.
During the pursuit, he exited a moving vehicle with a three-year-old child. He was subdued with pepper spray and taken into custody. He was accused of 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, September 22, 2006).
According to court records, Phelps fled while on bail and has since been a fugitive. Following his failure to appear in court, Phelps was charged with first-degree bail jumping in Warren County, Kentucky, in March 2007. The Kentucky State Police continued to share his photo on social media, with the most recent posting in December 2024.
In 2010, a Warren County Grand Jury indicted Phelps on charges of first-degree rape (child under the age of 12) and first-degree sodomy, with a $75,000 bond indicated.
After Phelps arrived in Florida, a mutual acquaintance made arrangements for him to stay with Robert and Travis Coe at their home at 869 6th Avenue NE. In Florida, Phelps went by the alias Jacob Allen Bush.
The Coes, who had lost an infant child many years before, allegedly treated Phelps like family. Following Robert’s death, and Travis’s death a few years later in approximately 2022, home ownership was transferred to Phelps on June 3, 2022, for zero dollars.
According to Travis’ will, the home was signed over to Phelps. According to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s Office, the home is owned by Jacob Allen Bush.
A mutual acquaintance of the Coes discovered a document or other item containing his real name, Donnie Phelps, while cleaning the house after Travis’s death.
After confronting him, Phelps confirmed his true identity, did an online search, and discovered his background. The information was then forwarded to the Largo Police Department and the United States Marshal Service. They received assistance from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Neighbors witnessed Phelps’ arrest early on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Multiple law enforcement agencies arrived, handcuffed Phelps, and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail on an active warrant out of Kentucky.
Neighbors described him as friendly and helpful, and he assisted many of them when asked. Phelps worked on vehicles, and many of them can still be found around the house, including on the driveway and lawn.
He is currently being held on a warrant issued by the Kentucky State Police and is awaiting extradition back to Kentucky.