Jul 27, 2018 5 min read

North Strabane Township police Chief Brian Hughes honored a local optometrist’s office Tuesday for its insight on evidence in a recent rape investigation.

Hughes presented Dr. Dale DeConcilis and his wife, Joyce, who run DeConcilis Eye and Vision Center on South Central Avenue, with community service awards.

“They provided that last piece of evidence that we needed,” Hughes said during a township meeting Tuesday.

Just a few hours earlier Tuesday, Richard A. Betonte, 60, was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison for a home invasion, rape and strangulation in April at a North Strabane residence. Police said Betonte entered the residence of a 60-year-old woman about 3:30 a.m. April 4 and told her he had a gun he would use if she didn’t comply. He then choked her with a bedsheet and proceeded to assault and rape her for 90 minutes, police said.

Police found DNA evidence in the victim’s home and in Betonte’s residence that eventually would have led to Betonte’s arrest following lab tests that often require months before results come back. But police said Betonte left behind a pair of eyeglasses, which looked identical to the ones police had seen in pictures of Betonte.

“When we saw that he wore glasses and found the glasses at the scene, they looked the same,” Hughes said. “But can you prove that they’re his? That was the question.”

The lead police officer on the case, Nathan Terling, said Betonte told police in an interview that DeConcilis was his eye doctor. Police then got a search warrant and asked the DeConcilises for help.

“They were very, very cooperative with us,” Hughes said. “They gave us all the records we needed, which included his prescription. Then they examined the glasses.”

Joyce DeConcilis, the office manager, said as soon as she saw the glasses, “I knew they were his.”

Dale DeConcilis said though he’s been in the profession for more than 42 years, this is the first time he’s ever been asked to help in a case like this.

“It was after hours, but we went back to the office,” DeConcilis said, recalling that day. “They had no other concrete evidence to hold this guy. They were very frantic to get him behind bars.”

Hughes said because of the violent nature of the crime and Betonte’s prior record of violent crimes, expedience in making an arrest was a priority.

“You really want to make sure you’re doing everything right because of how heinous a crime this was,” Hughes said. “You definitely don’t want this person loose.”

DeConcilis said the manufacturer, make and size of the frames, along with the exact prescription for the stigmatism in each eye, allowed them to identify the glasses.

“There are so many variables there that the chances of that prescription matching someone else were slim to none,” he said.

Terling said the glasses were “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” and enough evidence for police to arrest Betonte that night.

While being applauded at Tuesday’s meeting, DeConcilis gave “all the credit” to the police officers.

“It was a pleasure working with them,” he said in an interview Thursday. “I would do anything I possibly could to help out.”

Hughes and Terling said Thursday while “our case is closed,” their thoughts are with the victim, who’s “still suffering from this.”

The victim provided a statement to the court, which was read during Betonte’s sentencing. In it, she mentioned staying in a friend’s spare bedroom because she’s too traumatized to return to either her residence or her job. Her statement relayed she’s been in constant pain and in therapy since the attack, in which she suffered eye, neck and back injuries. She is being treated for post-traumatic stress, severe anxiety and insomnia.

In other discussion Tuesday, the township’s swiftwater rescue team and firefighters were thanked for their help during extreme flooding in Bridgeville June 20. The flooding damaged dozens of homes and businesses in Bridgeville, Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park, and killed one Upper St. Clair woman who was swept away by floodwaters after she abandoned her vehicle.

“We thank you guys for having a service we can use,” said Bridgeville fire Chief Bill Chilleo, who attended the township’s meeting to thank its fire crews for their help that night in rescuing between 50 and 60 people.

“This was the worst that we’ve ever had,” Chilleo said in an interview. “This water was between three and four feet higher than what we saw with (Hurricane) Ivan. The water was probably about eight feet deep in the middle of the road on Baldwin Street.”

Chilleo said they had boats from departments in Beaver, Greene, Allegheny and Washington counties helping out, and that “95 percent of it was volunteers.”

“It’s a necessity, because you can’t do anything like that on your own,” he said.

North Strabane fire Chief Mark Grimm said his crews spent four hours rescuing about 13 people that night from cars and second-story residences.

“When someone calls for help, you go,” Grimm said.