A woman who was restrained, blindfolded, pistol-whipped and held for ransom managed to escape her kidnappers at the BP gas station on Ardmore Boulevard in Wilkinsburg on Thursday night, according to police.
An arrest warrant for one of two suspects — 19-year-old Dontae Stevens, of Wilkinsburg, identified by the victim as a local rapper — was issued Friday morning.
Stevens is facing multiple charges including robbery, kidnapping, assault, terroristic threats and possession of a gun.
The woman, a local video podcaster who was not named in court paperwork, told investigators she was lured to a home on the 1400 block of Clark Street in Wilkinsburg under the pretense of providing a haircut.
Once she was inside, the woman said Stevens and another male, whose face was covered by a ski mask, came up from the basement and pulled guns on her.
The pair demanded the victim transfer money to them through Cash App, according to a criminal complaint.
When the woman’s app did not work, she was pistol-whipped seven times and struck three times in the head with a rifle butt, the complaint said.
She was then taken to the basement where police said the assailants called the victim’s significant other. Court documents said they threatened to kill the woman if her significant other did not transfer $1,000 through Cash App.
The money was transferred and then relayed to the two attackers, according to the complaint. Ultimately, police said $3,000 was transferred, though the source of the other $2,000 was not clear in court documents.
Then, the woman told police, they took her phone.
The victim knew Stevens from previously cutting his hair as well as hosting him on her podcast in the past, the complaint said.
Stevens and the unknown male also called the victim’s camera crew and manager asking for money as well.
According to court documents Stevens and the unknown male told the victim they knew her parents “have money.”
The accused kidnappers brought the woman to the backyard and fired a single shot into the air “letting her know they were serious (about) killing her,” the complaint said.
They then took the woman to the BP gas station in the back of her own car, where she was able to remove her blindfold and escape while screaming for help.
One of the men went after her and grabbed her by the neck, the complaint said. He tried to force her back into the car, but she was able to get away after a struggle, the woman told police.
Investigators did not provide more details about her escape.
Wilkinsburg police were dispatched to the scene shortly before 8 p.m. A man flagged them down and said a frantic woman had gotten into his pickup truck and threw up, court documents said.
Police said the victim had a lump on her head, a bruised face and a concussion. She was taken to the hospital.
The victim’s vehicle, a Kia Optima, was found in the 1300 Block of Maple Way in Braddock and was sent to the crime lab for processing. Her cell phone was recovered near Princeton and Penn avenues in Wilkinsburg, police said.
Court documents show Stevens pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charge in 2022. That felony conviction made it illegal for him to have a gun, according to the complaint.
Stevens did not have an attorney listed on court documents Friday morning.
Police are continuing to investigate to identify the second suspect.
