Brief standoff ends with arrest of man on Allegheny County Sheriff's 'most wanted' list

A brief standoff Tuesday morning ended in the arrest of a Pittsburgh man on the Allegheny County Sheriff’s “most wanted” list with four outstanding warrants, according to Sheriff Kevin Kraus.

Authorities said Carlos L. Hart Jr., 27, of Stanton Heights, was wanted on three arrest warrants and a bench warrant.

Hart was initially wanted in connection with a September 2020 incident in which police said he rammed his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and flashed a gun as she drove on Penn Avenue. He took off before officers arrived, police said.

In March, a traffic stop on Hart by Allegheny County Police turned up a handgun and a digital scale with suspected marijuana residue, authorities said. He was charged with drug and firearms violations, and a bench warrant was issued for a probation violation.

Hart’s ex-girlfriend contacted police in June and said Hart sent her threatening messages and followed her, resulting in terroristic threat charges, according to deputies. In late December, police said Hart damaged three other vehicles during a pursuit with Monroeville police – an incident police are still investigating.

Kraus said deputies tracked Hart to a duplex on Mill Street in Wilkinsburg and tried to take him into custody shortly before 7:30 a.m. A woman on the first floor told deputies Hart was upstairs with her daughter.

As deputies tried to negotiate with Hart, Kraus said, they heard “the sound of a firearm racking” on the other side of the door. After 10 minutes of negotiating, Hart surrendered. Kraus said deputies found a disassembled handgun in the room in which Hart had been holed up.