A man who threatened to jump off a cliff after deputies cornered him last week has been hit with a battery of charges arising from his reported abuse of his girlfriend the day before the standoff.

The man, Christopher Johnson, 34, is charged with aggravated assault, evading arrest, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment. He was captured last week when police flushed him from his Bickford Road home ready to arrest him on the multitude of felony charges.

Johnson scampered through the woods and found himself standing on a cliff with the Collins River some 60 feet below. Johnson held lawmen at bay for about four hours until he was talked into giving up.

According to deputy Christopher McCormick, the reason Johnson was willing to risk his life to get away was the felony charges against him that could cost him years in jail. The charges come after he and his girlfriend got into a domestic issue at his home.

“She told him she no longer wanted to be with him and he became enraged,” the deputy revealed, noting Johnson hit her and grabbed her around the throat.

He then took her cellphone and did not allow her to leave. However, the woman was able to come up with a plan.

“She talked him into taking her daughter to Fast Pace Medical Center because she was sick,” the deputy said. “When she got there she handed one of the medical staff a note that read ‘I need you to call the law.’”

When police arrived, they found Johnson in the parking lot. “He was asked to exit the vehicle,” McCormick said, noting city officers then tried to open the suspect’s car door. “He drove away from the scene and had to swerve to avoid hitting another vehicle in the parking lot.”

Johnson remained at large until he was found at his home the following day.