Armin Christian: Prison Escapee Caught After 30 Years On The Run

Armin Christian is back behind bars more than 31 years after escaping from Piedmont Work Center near Greenville, S.C. on Christmas Day, 1980, where he was serving an 11-month sentence for failure to pay child support.

Christian, now 65, was living a quiet life in Bristol, Rhode Island as a handyman under the name Chris Christian, according to The Huffington Post.

MSNBC reports that Rhode Island State Police Captain Michael J. Winquist told them:

“Usually when someone escapes from a facility and has criminal background they end up coming into contact with some type of law enforcement. This person, I think it’s quite unusual that he led such a low profile for 32 years without having any new cases or new arrests from what we can tell. Thirty-two years without being captured is pretty amazing.”

Winquist further stated of Armin Christian’s arrest that:

“As soon as we approached him he made a statement that he knew why we were there. He said that he had planned to straighten the situation out by returning to South Carolina.”

According to Rhode Island Public Radio, Winquist stated:

“And he indicated he had lived in several states along the way before coming to Rhode Island almost 20 years ago.”

Those other states included New Jersey, Maryland and Florida, reports The Huffington Post.

Winquist stated of the now 65 year old, according to MSNBC, that:

“He looked his age. He looked like a normal 65-year-old white male. People in the neighborhood knew him under his alias name and had nothing but positive things to say about him.”

Armin Christian has been charged with escaping a correctional facility. He was arraigned at a Providence District Court on Wednesday, reports The Huffington Post.