Jury acquits man charged with domestic violence
A Washington County jury on Wednesday found a man innocent of committing domestic violence.
Jurors deliberated approximately 90 minutes in the case of Frank William Ruperto, 51, of Perryopolis, Fayette County.
Ruperto was found not guilty of felony strangulation and misdemeanor simple assault, making terroristic threats and endangering the welfare of a child.
Ruperto testified in his own defense that, after a night of drinking with his accusers in March 2017 in his Long Branch Borough home, he retired to a first-floor, locked bedroom.
His then-wife, Janice, and stepdaughter, Samantha Hicks, entered the room, a melee ensued, and Frank Ruperto ran from the home.
An off-duty Donora police officer, Mike Buynar, who had been visiting, testified he had to restrain Hicks from pursuing Frank Ruperto, said his defense attorney, Christopher Blackwell.
“The beating they described did not match the injuries sustained,” he said Thursday.
Hicks’ baby girl was in another room.
The jury was selected Monday for the case in which Judge Gary Gilman presided and Assistant District Attorney Craig McKay prosecuted.