Police: Man faces felony charge for harassing phone calls targeting New Kensington woman

New Kensington police charged a Manor Township man with felony stalking after, they say, he repeatedly harassed a woman who obtained a protection from abuse order against him in 2020.

Scott Eugene Rupert, 49, of Mateer Drive, Manor Township also was charged with harassment in connection with an investigation that was launched after police received a report from the Westmoreland County Adult Protective Services on Dec. 30.

Rupert is being detained in the Westmoreland County jail after failing to post a $10,000 bond, according to court records.

He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on Jan. 27.

A representative from the county social service agency told police that she had been assigned to a case in which Rupert made at least 15 calls reporting that a New Kensington woman was failing to properly care for her husband by leaving him unattended on numerous occasions, according to the criminal complaint filed on the incident.

One of the calls was made on Dec. 26 asking New Kensington police to conduct a welfare check on the woman’s husband, the complaint said.

But when officers went to the home, they determined that the man was receiving the care he needed.

The man told police that he believed the calls Rupert was making were a violation of the protection from abuse order his wife had obtained, arrest papers said.

Police did not indicate the circumstances that resulted in the court ordering Rupert to have no contact with the woman.

When police interviewed the woman on Jan. 7, she told them that in addition to the calls he was making, her husband and son saw Rupert driving by their home at various times during the week of Dec. 26, police said.