Police say a romantic breakup led to a felon's arrest for possessing a gun and body armor.

Butler City Police charged Nicholas T. Heath, 41, of Butler, with felony gun possession, felony body armor possession, misdemeanor simple assault, and misdemeanor controlled substance possession.

Following his arraignment Sunday night by District Judge William O'Donnell, he was placed in Butler County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bond.

According to charging documents, police received an anonymous tip about a woman screaming, “he's out of control,” in the middle of West Penn Street.

Police were dispatched just after 4 p.m.

Police arrived and spoke with three people outside, one of whom was holding his mouth. The man told police Heath had punched him in the face during an altercation in the home.

The man told officers, Heath and his girlfriend were arguing, and the man and Heath's girlfriend had tried to intervene as Heath became aggressive.

Police said they found Heath's girlfriend shivering while sitting on a staircase leading up to the apartment.

“She informed me that she had decided to leave Heath and that she had attempted to tell him such today,” said the investigating officer.

Police said they were then told Heath may be under the influence of drugs and have a gun inside, and multiple officers began ascending the steps in order to make contact.

Police said Heath exited and talked with them, giving them his version of events, which were not detailed in the affidavit. When asked about the gun, police said Heath told officers there was a handgun inside the room, but claimed it was in pieces and owned by his girlfriend.

Police escorted Heath to the bedroom to view the alleged gun.

“I viewed, out in the open, a desk strewn with AR-15 magazines, a black AR-15 armorer's tool hanging on a nail on the far wall, the bolt carrier from an AR-15 lying on the bed, the charging handle from an AR-15 lying on the bed and a tan plate carrier with armor plates inserted lying on the bed as well,” police said.

Some gun manufacturers produce an AR-15 pistol, which is nearly identical to the gun manufacturer, but features a short stabilizers instead of a stock and a much shorter barrel. Both are manufactured as semi-automatic guns and usually fire 5.56 mm or a .223 Remington rounds.

Police said they believed the pieces they saw were those of a rifle, rather than a pistol, and as they inspected the parts, which appeared to make Heath nervous, they found that there were missing serial numbers on some of the receivers and collected about 19 rounds of .223 ammunition.

“Heath admitted that he was a felon, and he was taken into custody,” police said.

In 2003, Heath was convicted of felony burglary, which makes him unable to own a gun. Then, in 2010, Heath was convicted of numerous offenses that would again prohibit him from owning a gun, and within those offenses was a conviction for body armor possession.

Police said during his arrest, they found 27 tablets of alprazolam inside a cigarette pack.

A preliminary hearing for Heath has been scheduled for Nov. 1 before District Judge William Fullerton.