Christopher Miller

More than one year after he allegedly cut off his electronic monitoring device and fled, a Butler man is back behind bars.

Christopher Michael Miller, 31, was arrested Tuesday and is being held in Butler County Prison on a felony charge of escape.

Miller had been wanted since April 10, 2017, when county detectives obtained an arrest warrant for him on charges he fled county probation supervision by removing his GPS ankle bracelet.

Authorities suspect Miller cut off the device between 5 and 11 p.m. March 31, 2017, while on house arrest.

Ten days earlier, according to court documents, he was released from Butler County Prison and placed on electronic monitoring.

MHY Family Services in Adams Township, which provides services for adult and juvenile offenders participating in the county's community monitoring program, notified probation officials that Miller had removed the device.

He was reportedly seen leaving in a vehicle with other people who lived with him.

Detectives subsequently learned that the defendant responded to text messages from county court officials “indicating that he (was) in West Virginia working for his uncle's roofing company,” documents said.

Detective David Aldridge, the investigating officer, said that after Miller turned up missing he notified police in West Virginia to be on the lookout for the defendant.

Probation officers reportedly picked him up Tuesday on a separate domestic relations bench warrant. District Judge Wayne Seibel later arraigned him on the felony charge in the criminal case.

Amy Petricca, the county's deputy chief probation officer, declined Wednesday to discuss the circumstances of Miller's arrest.

He is in the county jail on $25,000 bail while awaiting his preliminary hearing June 4.

Additionally, he faces a probation violation hearing June 5.