Wife files PFA against Greene County DA
WAYNESBURG – The wife of Greene County District Attorney David Russo has filed a protection-from-abuse order against him claiming he has a history of abusive behavior when intoxicated while also intimidating her with firearms at their Jackson Township home.
Jana Russo was granted the temporary PFA on Monday against her husband, who was served Tuesday and required to relinquish more than a dozen weapons until a hearing can be held later this month.
The PFA claims David Russo has a history of heavy drinking on weekends, which allegedly led to abusive behavior of Jana Russo and their children.
She claims that the situation became particularly bad Oct. 10 when Russo was “screaming and looking for me all through the house” while also calling her a “(expletive) whore,” prompting her to lock herself in a bedroom with her son. After that incident, Jana Russo began taking their children to stay with the couple’s oldest son on weekends. Jana Russo also requested that son, who was not identified, be included in the PFA because she and the other children have been staying with him at his Carmichaels area home since Nov. 2.
“I was afraid and I left for safety with the children later that night after he passed out and did not return,” she wrote in the PFA. “I want him to leave us alone.”
It’s not known what prompted Jana Russo to request the PFA this week nearly a month after the most recent incident. President Judge Lou Dayich granted the temporary PFA order and set a hearing on the matter for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 13 at the Greene County Courthouse. David Russo was ordered not to have any contact or visitation with his children until after the hearing.
The PFA alleges Russo often intimidated his wife with firearms by leaving a handgun on a workbench, along with another time in which he fired a gun into the bushes outside while she was near him.
The order temporarily prohibits Russo from possessing firearms, and court documents indicated that more than a dozen guns were to be seized. The list of weapons included two handguns, one or two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and 10 to 15 hunting rifles.
Jana Russo also claims she was not permitted to speak to family for years, and that Russo threatened to beat their two boys after supposedly hearing one of them use profanity. She said he also threatened to strike her in August, but was pulled away by their son.
“He screams at me and the kids – having screaming fits,” she wrote in the PFA. “We stopped having family dinners because he would scream at us. He would blame me for everything.”
She is seeking custody of the couple’s four minor children, whose names were redacted in the PFA documents. David Russo must also pay temporary child support to Jana Russo, along with legal fees.
No charges have been filed against Russo, although state police at the Waynesburg barracks were notified of the PFA. It was also distributed to the district attorney’s offices, as is typical with such PFA orders.
A receptionist at the district attorney’s office inside the Greene County Courthouse said Russo was not available Wednesday afternoon, and he did not respond to a request for comment.
Jana Russo apparently filed a PFA against her husband about 15 years ago in Washington County, claiming he slapped her in the face, punched her in the head and choked her.
Russo, 44, is serving his first term as district attorney after winning in 2019 as a Republican candidate, narrowly defeating Democrat Jessica Phillips and write-in candidate Patrick Fitch in a three-way race. He replaced longtime district attorney Marjorie Fox, who retired in January 2020.