Police: Teen hits Harrison man with baseball bat to protect herself, mother

A teenager and her mother were able to escape from a Harrison man who police said severely injured the woman in a domestic assault early Wednesday.

Harrison police said the 16-year-old girl used a baseball bat to defend herself and her mother until they were able to get out of the home to call police.

The woman told police that Dominic C. Pelligrini, 43, was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine when he attacked her at their Natrona home, according to a criminal complaint filed against him.

Pelligrini is facing a number of charges, including felony aggravated assault.

Police said they received a report of a domestic incident involving a man and a woman on Walnut Street around 2 a.m.

The victim, 41, told police that Pelligrini attacked her in a second-floor bedroom. The complaint said she had swelling and bruising to her head, face and right eye.

The teenager said she was outside in front of the house when she heard her mother screaming and yelling for help from inside.

She told police she ran upstairs and forced her way into the bedroom, where she found Pelligrini sitting on her mother’s back, pinning her to the floor. She said Pelligrini was beating her mother’s head and face against the floor.

When he attempted to come after the girl, she told police, she grabbed a baseball bat and hit him with it so she and her mother could get out of the house and call police.

As a responding Harrison officer was speaking with the mother and daughter, Pelligrini, who had locked everybody out of the house, opened the front door, police said.

Police said Pelligrini, who was bleeding from the head and face, screamed in an aggressive manner and told police he was not going back to jail.

Pelligrini was arrested and taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison for evaluation. He was arraigned Wednesday and was being held in Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh on $25,000 bond.

Pelligrini has a lengthy criminal history as well as probation and parole records related to domestic violence and resisting arrest, according to the complaint.