BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested after he allegedly tampered with this home confinement monitoring device.

Robert Carl Beam Jr., also known as RJ, 27, of Buckhannon, was arrested on Friday for escape from custody, a felony. He is now housed in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond set by Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder.

The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office first issued a press release Friday about the incident, which allegedly occurred late Thursday night. The release advised that Beam had cut the strap on his Home Confinement electronic monitoring device and that, due to prior convictions, he could be armed and dangerous.

“Due to [Beam’s] previous charges of wanton endangerment involving a firearm, multiple fleeing with reckless indifference in a vehicle, and multiple escapes from custody, RJ is considered to be possibly armed and dangerous,” the release stated. “RJ poses an extreme danger to public safety due to reckless driving while fleeing from law enforcement.”

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. T.R. Collins, the incident began at approximately 11:35 p.m. on March 14. At that time, Home Confinement Supervisor D. Long received a tampering alert from the electronic monitoring device that was issued to and being worn by Beam.

At approximately 6:15 a.m. on March 15, Long and Collins went to a residence at 3 1/2 Sedgwick Street in Buckhannon in an attempt to find Beam. They successfully located Beam’s electronic monitoring device and its charger on the porch of the residence, according to the complaint.

“The electronic monitoring device’s strap was cut, which confirms the tampering alert we received,” Collins wrote in the report. “Beam was on bond for five counts of [being a] prohibited person in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a stolen vehicle, and one count of possession of bald head eagle parts.”

Beam was recaptured on Friday, March 15.

The potential penalty for a conviction of escape from custody is confinement in a correctional facility for not more than five years.