DURHAM, N.C. — Carrboro's outgoing fire chief, Rodney Murray, has been arrested and placed in jail on a $1 million bond for violating a court order to stay away from his former girlfriend.

Durham police said someone reported seeing Murray near the Chownings Street home of his former girlfriend, Gina Ambrosecchia, at about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Murray was taken into custody late Thursday morning and was being held on $1 million bond, pending a Feb. 1 court date.

The arrest comes a week after Murray pleaded guilty to two counts of violating a domestic violence protective order taken out by Ambrosecchia.

A Durham district court judge agreed last Thursday to release Murray from jail after a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed him to avoid a criminal conviction if he stayed away from Ambrosecchia.

In releasing Murray, the judge also granted a new year-long protective order that required Murray to stay away from the subdivision where she lives.

Murray, who was placed on medical leave after suffering a heart attack in November, has been Carrboro's fire chief for about 12 years and worked for the Chapel Hill Fire Department for 25 years before that.

Earlier this month, he told Carrboro officials that he would retire effective March 1. He is expected to remain on full-time medical leave until then.