Canonsburg man charged with rape
A Canonsburg man was jailed Monday on rape charges after he allegedly raped a woman last month.
Canonsburg police said they responded to a Giffin Avenue residence at about 6 a.m. May 16 for the report of a rape. The woman reported to police Nathaniel K. Griffin Jr., 26, of 203 Lincoln Ave., raped her at her apartment just an hour before.
The woman told police Griffin, who she knew, allegedly showed up at her apartment about 4 a.m. She said she and a friend had been up talking. Shortly after Griffin arrived, the friend left because she “was feeling uncomfortable with him there,” the criminal complaint said. The victim allegedly asked her friend to stay because she too was uncomfortable.
After the friend left, the woman and Griffin talked for about 15 minutes before the conversation allegedly “was getting weird,” the complaint said. She allegedly told Griffin she wanted to go to bed, “hoping he would leave,” the complaint said.
He allegedly grabbed her by her throat, picked her up off the ground and took her into her bedroom, the complaint said. The woman told police she had passed out and woke to him raping her. The woman ran to the basement to try to escape, but he allegedly chased her, pulled her from the door and grabbed her by the throat again, according to the complaint.
The woman told police her head hit the wall as she was being dragged up the stairs. Griffin then allegedly wrapped an extension cord around her neck and continued to sexually assault her. According to the complaint, the victim was “begging for her life,” and asked Griffin to not kill her or her dog.
The woman told police Griffin asked to use her cellphone to call his mother, who was allegedly going to pick him up at a nearby gas station. The woman told police when Griffin left, she watched him from a window until he was out of sight. Then she ran to her brother’s house and called 911.
Griffin was charged by Canonsburg police with two counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, strangulation and unlawful restraint. He was arraigned Tuesday afternoon by District Judge David Mark and jailed on $250,000 bond.