After two years of court appearances and an aborted trial, Butler’s victim outreach center decided it didn’t want to continue pursuing criminal harassment charges against a Westmoreland County woman, according to a spokesman with the state Attorney General’s Office. After two years of court appearances and an aborted trial, Butler's victim outreach center decided it didn't want to continue pursuing criminal harassment charges against a Westmoreland County woman, according to a spokesman with the state Attorney General's Office.

Butler police arrested Brittany A. Hartos, 27, of Irwin, Westmoreland County, on Oct. 15, 2018, for allegedly harassing four employees of Butler County's Victim Outreach Intervention Center. Police alleged that between April 23 and Sept. 26, 2018, Hartos made more than 300 harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, text messages and emails.

The case went to trial in February after Patrick Schulte, the senior deputy prosecuting the case for the attorney general, reduced the case to a summary harassment charge. Hartos declined to take a plea deal offered under the reduced charges, according to Hartos' lawyer, Victor Vouga.

But 30 minutes into the trial it was aborted after Vouga vehemently objected to what he called surprise evidence of 300 alleged phone calls Hartos made to VOICe.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appeared in Sunday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.