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Irwin man ordered to jail without bail for false imprisonment, assaulting woman

Paul Peirce
| Monday, October 4, 2021 3:30 p.m.
Westmoreland County Prison
Russell Jay Little of Irwin

An Irwin man slated for hearings this month on accusations that he was peeping into neighborhood windows is now jailed without bail for locking a woman overnight in a storage trailer and assaulting her, according to court documents.

Borough police arrested Russell Jay Little, 47, after the woman appeared at the police station Friday to complain he took her to a nearby storage unit he owns on Sept. 29 and locked her inside against her will with a cooler and backpack.

A short time later, the woman said she received written message from Little informing her she was spending the night there and he’d return the next day to let her out.

The woman told Officer Michael Thomas that Little returned at 7:30 a.m. and released her.

Little is charged with false imprisonment, harassment, involuntary servitude, simple assault terroristic threats and unlawful restraint. District Judge Wayne Gongaware refused to set bond for Little, stating in court records that “no conditions or combination of conditions other than imprisonment” could safely assure the woman’s safety prior to the court hearing.

The woman told police she often “cried herself to sleep” during repeated assaults recently. She told police that Little gave her a black eye and swollen lip, and that he has threatened to kill her on several occasions, according to court papers.

Prior to one recent assault, the woman told Thomas, “(Little) was angry that I wasn’t looking at him while he was talking to me … so he grabbed my by the ear and held it so forcefully I was facing him,” she said.

According to online court records, Little has separate preliminary hearings for loitering and prowling scheduled Oct. 20 after residents in June reported a strange man standing in their yards.

Following a June 21 incident on Locust Street, two separate women reported seeing a man in blue T-shirt and dark gym shorts with a “buzz cut” in their yard. Police said they found fresh shoe marks in mulch next to the window at one home.

Little was arrested after one of the women was shown a his photograph on Facebook a few days later and positively identified him to police.

Attorney Samir Sarna, of Pittsburgh, is representing Little in that case. Sarna could not be reached for comment on the new complaints.

Police Chief Daniel Wensel also could not be reached for further comment.


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