Attorney questions charges against client
The attorney for a woman accused of harassing four employees with Butler County's Victim Outreach Intervention Center questioned the charges against his client.
Victor Vouga says he also is confident that the case against Brittany M. Hartos will be dismissed.
“We understand that charges have been filed and my client believes there are some legitimate responses to this that will clear the charges,” Vouga said Friday.
“My client has not done anything that would justify these charges.”
Butler police on Oct. 15 charged Hartos, 26, of Irwin, Westmoreland County, with harassment, a third-degree misdemeanor.
According to court documents, she allegedly repeatedly communicated “vulgar calls” and “implied threats of violence” toward Linda Strachan, executive director of VOICe, and three other employees at the office.
Hartos also is accused of threatening to file formal complaints and civil lawsuits against the employees.
Police alleged the defendant between April 23 and Sept. 26 made more than 300 harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, text messages and emails.
Vouga declined to discuss the allegations or charges, but he said he expected the case would eventually be dropped.
“We believe that after this case becomes more thoroughly investigated,” he said, “(it) will be dismissed.”
Hartos' preliminary hearing is set Nov. 26.
She also is facing an unrelated charge for allegedly threatening the life of county District Attorney Richard Goldinger. For that charge, she was arrested April 8 and placed in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.
Police originally charged her with aggravated assault, a felony, and terroristic threats and simple assault, both misdemeanors.
On May 7, Hartos waived those charges to court before her preliminary hearing. Later that day, she was released on pretrial supervision with the condition that she obey the recommendations from a completed psychological evaluation.
Prosecutors with the state Attorney General's Office on June 22 withdrew the charges of aggravated assault and simple assault.
The Attorney General's Office is prosecuting the case since the county's district attorney is the alleged victim.
Court papers did not indicate why the office withdrew the two charges against Hartos. A telephone call to Patrick Schulte, a state deputy attorney general, was not returned Wednesday.
Vouga declined to comment about the case.
