A 27-year-old Prospect man who broke into two houses in 2015 was sentenced Monday to prison for violating his original probation sentence.

Jerry Higley, then 22, was arrested in Lancaster Township and charged with a string of break-ins leading county Judge Timothy McCune to sentence him to six years of probation. Four years later, Higley was brought before McCune again after he violated his probation by breaking out of a halfway house. This time, McCune sentenced Higley to a prison term of three years plus one month to six years plus two months for two counts of criminal trespass and receiving stolen property.

Higley is being held in a state prison in Greene County. Speaking through a video stream, he admitted to the court that he escaped from the halfway house. For that, he was sentenced to one to two years in state prison.

Higley was originally arrested after police responded to a burglary alarm in January 2015. Police tried to stop Higley, who was a passenger in a pickup truck that was backing out of the home's driveway. But when the officer tried to arrest Higley, he ran from the truck, through a field and into nearby woods, police said.

Police called for additional assistance from neighboring departments. Zelienople police, who were called to assist, found Higley behind a house on Stone Church Road. But again, he got away, running into the woods, documents said.

Evans City police and a K-9 officer were called in to bolster the search.

While police searched for him, Higley broke into another house, about three miles east of the first home.

He stole money, coins, credit cards and gift cards from the second home in the 400 block of Whitestown Road in Lancaster Township, documents said.