CHICORA — A man who is accused of skipping town on a jaunt with his former girlfriend in a stolen truck had his charges moved forward to county court Tuesday.

State police say the suspect was furloughed from jail to attend his father’s funeral but ditched dear old dad and headed south. The girlfriend saw a charge added to her list of offenses, but was released on her own recognizance. District Judge Lewis Stoughton handled the case.

The pair are Travis R. Duttine, 29, of East Brady, who has been housed in the Butler County Prison for the past five months on other charges, and Jessica L. Custer, 33, of Petrolia. They traded smiles when Custer entered the courtroom, where Duttine was seated in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs.

Duttine also wore a knee-high surgical boot from a separate shooting incident, which necessitated a separate preliminary hearing a few minutes later.

Duttine and Custer both pleaded not guilty to felony counts of theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle stemming from the Aug. 27 incident.

Testimony in the first preliminary hearing largely focused on whether Duttine was part-owner of the 2019 white Chevy Silverado pickup he and Custer drove to North Carolina, where a police chase ended with the truck crashing in South Carolina and the pair being apprehended without incident.

“This is a real Bonnie and Clyde case,” said Armand Cingolani, Custer’s attorney.

Witness Tony Koegler contended he is the owner of the truck and Duttine only the co-signer.

Koegler said he allowed his former friend, Duttine, to co-sign the loan for the truck for the sole purpose of building up his credit score.

Regarding the pair taking the truck when Duttine was furloughed from jail for his father’s funeral, Koegler said he refused when Custer asked him to use the truck to retrieve Duttine from jail for the funeral rites.

“I said, ‘He won’t go back to the jail,’” Koegler testified. “I said I didn’t want my truck involved.”

He testified that while he and Duttine were friends, he allowed Duttine to use the truck whenever he wanted.

When Duttine began dating Custer in November or December, Koegler testified that he required Duttine to ask if he wanted to use the truck.

Koegler testified that his is the only name on the title, which he considers proof that he is sole owner of the vehicle.

Dave Beichner, assistant district attorney, produced the title, which contained only Koegler’s name.

He also produced a form from the state Department of Transportation in which the box “record a lien” was checked.

The form contained Koegler’s signature in two places and was notarized, but Koegler denied signing the document or having it notarized.

Cingolani asked Koegler how much he expected Duttine to pay on the truck loan each month from the joint checking account the two men shared at the time.

Koegler replied that Duttine did not have to pay because he was only trying to build his credit score.

A back-and-forth ensued between Cingolani and Koegler, and Stoughton had to stop the questioning several times to remind Koegler that he should only answer questions and not challenge Cingolani.

The hearing’s other witness, state trooper Philip Schneider, testified he recovered a text message between Justin Ealy, Custer’s boyfriend at the time the truck was taken, and Custer’s mother.

Ealy told Custer’s mother that Custer “just took off with Tony’s truck with that piece of (expletive) Travis.”

The message stated Ealy had seen her get in the passenger’s side of the truck after she had picked up Duttine from jail and driven down the road a short distance.

Schneider said he was aware of Duttine’s furlough for his father’s funeral. When he did not return to the jail, he was listed as “escaped” and the investigation into his whereabouts began.

Schneider testified he also viewed messages and video chats between Duttine and Custer in which they discussed her getting Koegler’s truck and picking him up for the furlough.

In a video call, Duttine asked Custer if she would be able to get a vehicle to pick him up for the furlough, to which she replied “I hope.”

“You hope? Steal one,” Duttine replied from jail.

Beichner requested a single count of criminal conspiracy be added to Custer’s charges.

In her closing arguments, Rebecca Black attempted to prove that co-signing on the truck loan constitutes an interest in the truck’s ownership, meaning her client, Duttine, would be an authorized user of the truck.

Beichner said the video call confirms that Duttine told Custer to steal a vehicle, and neither had permission to use Koegler’s truck, which remains impounded.

Stoughton moved the charges forward to the county Court of Common Pleas.

Custer remains free on her own recognizance.

Duttine was returned to the Butler County Prison. His bond remains at $50,000.