Frazer police arrest 2 alleged drug dealers, charge 1 with sexual assault, at Pittsburgh Mills hotel

Frazer police arrested two alleged drug dealers at a hotel inside the Pittsburgh Mills mall complex after an employee called 911 to report a woman screaming for help, according to a criminal complaint.

Michael Joseph Battaglia, 44, of Wilkinsburg and Andrew Gilbert, 27, of Pittsburgh remained Sunday in the Allegheny County Jail after both were denied bond, according to online court records. The men were denied bond because of the nature of the allegations and their previous criminal histories, court records show. No attorney is listed for either man.

Police said they were called to SpringHill Suites about 7:30 p.m. Thursday for a welfare check on a woman screaming for help.

The employee told police the woman had been in a hotel room with men for most of the day.

The employee said the woman came to the front desk and asked for water before she walked out of the hotel in the direction of Eat’n Park. The employee said the woman appeared to be intoxicated and was wearing bloody sweatpants.

Officers searched the complex and found a woman matching that description on Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard near the Route 28 southbound ramp. The woman was bloody and injured and told police she had been “beat up,” according to the complaint.

Police interviewed the men at the hotel. Battaglia had been renting the room, and Gilbert had been visiting, the complaint said.

Both men denied knowing the woman.

The employee reiterated the woman had been with the two men most of the day. The woman also was mentioned by name in the hotel’s check-in notes, according to the complaint.

Police said Battaglia had blood on his hand. Both men were arrested and searched.

Police found more than $1,000 in cash, keys for the hotel room, court documents belonging to the bloodied woman, a cellphone, a lighter and a clear plastic bag containing suspected methamphetamine on Battaglia, according to the complaint.

Gilbert was found with more than $200 in cash, keys to the hotel room and a cellphone, according to the complaint. Gilbert was also carrying a bag that contained more than $3,000 in cash, drug paraphernalia and suspected methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

Police also found an iPad with messages visible on it that mentioned money and getting vaguely named or unnamed items to people, police said.

Battaglia said there was nothing illegal in the hotel room and gave police permission to search it. Both men gave police permission to search their vehicles.

In the hotel room, police found an empty bag for syringe needles, prescriptions belonging to Battaglia, scouring pads and crack pipes, suspected crack cocaine, a wad of woman’s hair, woman’s clothing, bloody sheets stuffed in a closet, bloody towels on the bathroom floor, bloody towels and smeared blood in the bathtub and blood on the wall and in the sink, according to the complaint.

In Gilbert’s Mustang, police found two cellphones, the complaint said.

The woman told police she recently was cited for prostitution and Battaglia paid for her to get a lawyer.

She told police Battaglia took her to the hotel room, where he smoked crack cocaine and told her she owed him sexual favors. When she refused, she said Battaglia strangled and beat her for two hours until she agreed to have sex with him. She was able to escape and seek help.

Battaglia is charged with aggravated, simple and sexual assault, strangulation, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and drug offenses. Gilbert is charged with numerous drug offenses. Preliminary hearings are scheduled Oct. 19 before Magisterial District Judge David J. Sosovicka in Harmar.