State police arrested a 51-year-old Parker Township man on charges he broke into a Bruin home Tuesday night.

But it turned out that police already were looking for the suspect — Raymond N. Wyant Jr. — on charges stemming from the fatal overdose death of an Armstrong County man in 2017.

Wyant is being held in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bond in the burglary case. He has an additional $100,000 bond in the Armstrong County case.

Police said they got a call about 11:25 p.m. Tuesday for a man trying to enter a home on the 200 block of School Street in Bruin. Troopers got there and found the homeowners and the defendant. They suspected Wyant was intoxicated.

The homeowners, a couple, did not know the defendant. They told police he ripped off the shutters and siding of their home while trying to get inside the house, according to charging documents.

At some point, they lost sight of the suspect before they found he had gotten into the house through the basement door. They also found plumbing pipes broken and water leaking in the basement, police said.

Wyant “admitted to drinking earlier that evening,” documents said, “and related that he knew that he had been in another person's house.”

He was arraigned on felony charges of burglary and trespass, misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, and a summary charge of public drunkenness. His preliminary hearing is set Tuesday.

At the alleged crime scene, when troopers ran his personal information, they found Wyant already was wanted on an arrest warrant.

That warrant was issued to state police May 22 in connection with the overdose death of Joseph L. Evankovich, 54, a Butler native, who was found dead Nov. 6, 2017, at his home in Perry Township.

Wyant is charged with drug delivery resulting in death — the equivalent of third-degree murder under state law.

He also is charged with delivery of a controlled substance and aggravated assault, both felonies. His preliminary hearing on those charges is set July 15.

Police were called to investigate Evankovich's death and found a bowl of white powder on a bathroom counter and three unmarked stamp bags of suspected heroin in his wallet that was on a bedroom nightstand.

An autopsy the following day determined Evankovich, who worked as a cardio echo technician at a Pittsburgh hospital, died of combined drug toxicity, investigators said.

Among the drugs in his system, according to court documents, was fentanyl. Testing of the stamp bags recovered from his wallet showed they, too, contained fentanyl.

During the investigation, police searched Evankovich's cell phone and retrieved several text messages from Nov. 5, 2017, between he and a person called “Sonny Boy.” The messages allegedly discussed a drug deal.

Aided by a search warrant for the cellular communications of “Sonny Boy,” investigators identified Wyant.

Evankovich, during the text conversation that was cited in documents, asked Wyant, “U got anything?”

Police said the defendant responded: “YEP.”

The two men agreed to meet at a store in Bruin. A review of surveillance video from the store, documents state, showed Evankovich pull up in a car. A short time later, a pickup truck also drove up to the store parking lot.

Evankovich is seen leaving his car, police said, and walking to the driver's side of the truck. Following a “short interaction,” documents said, Evankovich walks away, and the truck drives off.

Police believe Evankovich bought the drugs that were linked to his death at that meeting, said Trooper Robert Rottman, the investigating officer.

Investigators said they found the truck, which was seen on the video, at Wyant's home. Wyant, however, was not the registered owner. Police spoke to the listed owner, who told them that it belonged to Wyant.

“(The owner) stated he does not drive it,” documents said, “and only knows Wyant as the person who operates it.”

Rottman said Thursday that “over the past year” he tried a number of times to contact Wyant to talk to him about the police investigation, but the suspect never was found at his home and did not return the trooper's telephone messages.