Jeannette woman wanted for allegedly trashing apartment, stealing dog

Jeannette police are looking for a woman who allegedly broke into an apartment, trashed it, stole a pit bull, then pushed the dog out a car while fleeing the scene.

“I saw her push the dog out the back seat of the car and then take off real fast,” said Evelyn Ross, who was sitting outside a nearby apartment with her boyfriend, Carl Martello.

Courtney Marie Petrillo, 25, of Jeannette is wanted on burglary, criminal trespass, aggravated cruelty to animals and related charges.

The victim called police just after 8 p.m. Aug. 20, saying she was watching live security footage of Petrillo inside the victim’s apartment on Harrison Avenue.

Petrillo was allegedly shouting for the victim and threatening to beat her.

When police arrived Petrillo was gone. Furniture, picture frames and clothing had been scattered across the floor. Two televisions had been smashed and a coffee table flipped over, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The victim told police the pit bull was missing.

Martello and Ross were around the corner from the crime scene, where they saw a red car come to a stop and the driver push the dog out.

“We hollered for the dog to come over, because we knew it wasn’t right,” Martello said.

The couple and a neighbor gave the dog a bowl of water and called police. The pit bull was uninjured, and is now back with the victim, according to Martello.

“It’s just terrible, I can’t believe anyone would do this to an animal,” Ross said.

Jeannette police Monday issued a warrant for Petrillo’s arrest. She was at large as of Thursday morning.

Petrillo has previous convictions of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance stemming from arrests in two police raids in 2015 and 2016.