A woman spent hours held captive in her ex-boyfriend’s West Mifflin home Wednesday, forced into the basement when police responded to her texts seeking help, according to charges filed Thursday.
Demetrius Pirl, 51, faces a slew of charges, including kidnapping, rape, false imprisonment and sexual assault. The ordeal left a 33-year-old McKeesport woman in the hospital with facial fractures, bleeding behind her eye, and a concussion.
The woman told police she’d been out at an after-hours club in Duquesne and was dropping off a friend at his home when her ex-boyfriend, Pirl, pulled up and dragged her out of car, according to the criminal complaint.
A struggle ensued in the street, according to the complaint, and the woman grabbed a gun she kept in her purse. She fired once and missed and the gun jammed, she told police, and Pirl took the gun and her cell phone.
Pirl had friends come to the area and they helped him force the woman into the car and took her to his Maryland Avenue home, police said. The friends then left.
The woman said Pirl sexually assaulted her, according to the complaint, though at one point she was able to use her smartwatch to text friends for help. She told investigators that police came to the door, but he would not allow them inside. They came back a second time, according to the complaint, but Pirl had forced the woman into the basement and moved the refrigerator in front of the basement door.
Investigators wrote that West Mifflin Police said they did not see the basement door because of the refrigerator.
When police left, Pirl allowed the woman out of the basement, according to the complaint. He was going to allow her to leave when he realized the West Mifflin officers were still outside. They saw the woman and forced their way inside, according to the complaint.
The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Pirl is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, firearms violations, strangulation, sexual assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and indecent assault.
Court records show Pirl remains in the Allegheny County Jail, where he is being held on $100,000 bond.
