Cops add felony witness intimidation charge to Butler County man accused of beating, strangling woman

A Butler County man is accused of sending threatening text messages to a woman while he was awaiting a preliminary hearing on felony charges that he punched and strangled her, according to Buffalo Township police.

Bradley Borg, 32, of Bessemer Avenue, Butler Township, initially was charged with two felony counts of strangulation and a felony count of aggravated assault in connection with a Dec. 31 incident, according to the criminal complaint filed for the case. He also was charged with simple assault and resisting arrest after police said he fled from officers who tried to take him into custody.

But, prior to his Jan. 12 preliminary hearing on those charges before District Judge Sue Haggerty, Borg is accused of sending four threatening text messages to the woman he is accused of assaulting, according to investigators.

Police charged Borg with a felony count of intimidating a witness as well as making terroristic threats and harassment in connection with the texts he sent to the woman Jan. 9, according to a criminal complaint outlining the new charges.

Borg was being held in the Butler County Prison after his arrest Jan. 3 and failing to post a $10,000 cash bond.

During his scheduled preliminary hearing Jan. 12 before Haggerty, the judge increased Borg’s bond to $40,000. He was unable to post the increased bond, court records show.

Haggerty ordered Borg to stand trial for the first set of charges after Borg waived his right to a hearing.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday before Haggerty for the witness intimidation and other new charges.

According to the criminal complaint filed for the second incident, one of the text messages Borg sent to the woman stated that he would, “Be back to finish you…better keep a lookout for me.”

Another text read, “U ask for that beating and do it again [sic],” the complaint said.

According to the complaint, when the woman returned a text to Borg suggesting he seek help, he responded: “I don’t need any help. The only help I need is to beat u so can’t walk ever again….”

Borg initially was charged after the woman went to Butler Health System’s FasterCare clinic in Buffalo Township on Dec. 31 for treatment of face and head injuries and told medical staff that he assaulted her.

An officer who responded to the clinic said he saw a man “pacing in front of the building” who took off running when he saw police, the original complaint said.

The officer interviewed the woman at the clinic, who told him Borg was at her house and became “agitated” when she told him that she was driving him back to his home, police said.

She said Borg punched her in the head and face multiple times and strangled her twice during the dispute, according to the complaint.

After beating the woman, Borg offered to take her to the FasterCare clinic for treatment but tried to “convince her to lie about how the injuries occurred,” the complaint said.

The officer noted in his report that the woman, who identified Borg as the man waiting outside the clinic for her, had multiple injuries to her head and face that were photographed and submitted as evidence.

She was transported to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment of possible head trauma, the complaint said.

About an hour after Borg fled from the clinic off South Pike Road (Route 356), he was spotted by police on the other side of the road near the Freeport Area High School football field, police said.

Borg, however, refused to comply with an officer’s commands and fled into a nearby wooded area near the Rosebrook Assisted Living center, according to the complaint.

He was captured a short time later near the area where he was last seen, the complaint said.