MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Pittsburgh man accused of kidnapping a woman and bringing her to Monongalia County in January was arrested in West Virginia on Wednesday.
Rashaad S. Hairston, 28, of Pittsburgh, was taken into custody for allegedly driving a female victim out of Pittsburgh toward Monongalia County while threatening her and brandishing a gun on January 23 after getting upset with her.
According to the criminal complaint, Hairston allegedly brandished the gun and told the victim that he “was going to take her to the middle of nowhere West Virginia and shoot her in the back of the head, while preventing the victim from using her phone to call 911. The victim was also allegedly struck multiple times while the vehicle was being driven.
The victim was able to escape after the vehicle arrived in Monongalia County and slowed down at the intersection near Cheat Road and Tyrone Avery Road in Monongalia County. The victim was able to flag down a passing driver who took her to Mid-Atlantic Market and let her use their phone to call 911.
Deputies with the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department later responded to the convenience store, where they observed the victim with visible injuries.
Hairston was apprehended in the Weston area by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service Mountain State Fugitive Task Force.
Hairston is charged with felony kidnapping and is being held without bail in the Central Regional Jail as of Friday morning.
The sheriff’s department asks that anyone with information related to the case contact law enforcement.