Monessen man charged in baseball bat attack
MONESSEN – A Monessen man is being held on charges he repeatedly beat his fiancée with a metal baseball bat after she pleaded for her life in their residence early Sunday.
District Judge Joseph Dalfonso on Monday remanded Robert John Reeves, 34, of 1245 Rosecrest Ave., to Westmoreland County jail on $75,000 bond on charges of aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment, simple assault and harassment filed by city police, court records show.
The disturbance stemmed from his fiancée, Elizabeth Francia, allegedly discovering text messages on Reeves’ cellphone Saturday from a woman claiming to be missing him, police stated in the affidavit supporting the criminal charges.
Francia reportedly confronted the woman at her workplace and went out to a bar with her friends before returning home about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Police said Francia was met outside by Reeves, who is accused of pulling her out of her vehicle and dragging her inside the residence.
Francia claimed Reeves then began to strike her before he held her down with a bar stool, the record indicates. She told police Reeves threatened to kill her several times while she cried and begged him to stop the attack.
She said she went to a couch after he removed the stool and was later attacked there with the bat. She told police he used the bat to break her cellphone and also poured beers on her head.
Francia told police she took her son to her mother’s house about 7:30 a.m. after Reeves fell asleep, and was then taken to Mon Valley Hospital for treatment of her injuries.