Case dropped against woman accused of threatening to kill Butler County DA

A former Butler County woman no longer is charged with threatening to kill Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger.

The state Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday dropped the case against Brittany Hartos, 27, formerly of Butler. One charge of terroristic threats remained in the case. Two other charges of aggravated assault and simple assault previously were dismissed.

According to court documents, Hartos was arrested and charged by state police in April after she called the National Crisis Hotline and allegedly threatened to kill Goldinger.

Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte said the case doesn’t meet the requirements to carry out the charge of terroristic threats. He said what Hartos was doing when talking to the National Crisis Hotline was considered to be “venting.” He said case law shows venting doesn’t meet the requirements of a terroristic threat charge.

“When we received all of the evidence that we had, this looked a lot like venting to us,” Schulte said. “It also looked like this woman did not have the capability of carrying out the threats.”

Schulte said Hartos also complied with the mental health treatment ordered by the courts.

Messages left for Goldinger, Hartos and Hartos’ lawyer, Victor Vouga, weren’t returned Wednesday.