PROSPECT — A borough teenager is accused of cutting off his court-ordered electronic monitoring device in a brief break from house arrest.
But Jerry A. Higley Jr.'s freedom was short-lived.
"I guess after a while he decided to return home," said Butler County Detective Pat Cannon, who last week charged the 18-year-old Higley with escape, a third-degree felony.
Authorities believe the suspect, strapped with the electronic ankle bracelet, on Aug. 16 illegally took off from the David Street home where he lives with his father and brother.
Higley was required to wear the device after he was adjudicated delinquent in county juvenile court for a 2007 burglary.
The global positioning system feature of Higley's electronic monitoring ankle bracelet alerted authorities that he was illegally out of his house and across the road in a field and wooded area.
Juvenile probation officers contacted Higley's father, who acknowledged his son had left the house with a bag of clothing, according to court documents.
The officers used the GPS to track him to woods off Route 488, but he took off running.
Soon after evading capture, Cannon suspected that Higley cut off the electronic ankle bracelet.
Authorities on Aug. 17 entered Higley's name, photograph and other information in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database.
On Aug. 18, probation officers went to Higley's home, where he was found and arrested. He remains in the county prison on $10,000 bail.
