R. Jarrod Price

FRANKLIN TWP — A township man is accused of stealing a car belonging to his ex-girlfriend's sister Wednesday and threatening to burn it.

When his former girlfriend called him to demand that he return the car, state police said, he threatened to kill her.

Police later arrested R. Jarrod Price after issuing a lookout alert for him and the stolen red, 2014 Chevrolet Cruze.

Price was arraigned Friday on a felony charge of theft and misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats and harassment. He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail.

The defendant's ex-girlfriend, Dawn Eckert, notified authorities about 12:30 a.m. Thursday that he had taken her sister's car when it was at her house on Marybelle Lane in Franklin Township the previous day, according to court documents.

She contacted him by cell phone several times and asked that he bring back the vehicle. He refused, police said, and told her that he was going to “torch” it in Rochester, Beaver County.

Police sent out a radio bulletin naming the suspect and describing the car.

Eckert told investigators that about 3:15 a.m. Thursday, she again spoke to Price over the phone and advised him that she had notified police.

The defendant replied, documents said, “I don't care what you told the cops, you can't testify if (you're) dead. I'm going to kill you.”

Price's preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday at the office of District Judge Bill O'Donnell in Slippery Rock.