http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021012sexassaultreg2p2.asp
Man shot is named suspect in sex assaults
Saturday, October 12, 2002
By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

A man shot by a woman early Thursday in Homewood has emerged as a
suspect in a string of recent sex assaults in the East End.

Police said the suspect, a black man in his early 20s, pointed a rifle
at the woman in two separate incidents. The second time, the woman, who
is licensed to carry a gun, shot him.

Police were unsure of his name but he was listed in a police affidavit
as Jerome Prunty, also known as Jevone Prunty. He was arraigned
yesterday morning at UPMC Presbyterian on two counts of simple assault
and one count of receiving stolen property.
City Magistrate Moira Harrington ordered him held on $66,000 straight
bond. The hospital would not release information about his condition.

Although the man did not try to sexually assault the woman who shot him,
police are trying to determine whether he is responsible for attacking
five other women in East Liberty, Highland Park and Garfield since late
September.

Since midweek, undercover officers have searched for suspects who
matched a composite image, but police Cmdr. Maurita Bryant said
investigations by that special task force were called off last night.
Neither she nor other investigators would say whether that was because
they believe the suspect is in custody.

In each of the attacks, a woman was approached from behind, just as the
woman Thursday morning was. In three of the five incidents, the man
mentioned a weapon or the victim saw it. Those attacks, however,
occurred a few miles away from Thursday morning’s incident.

Police obtained a search warrant yesterday to take DNA samples from the
suspect.

Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht said that any bodily fluid
containing cellular material — blood, semen, sweat or saliva, for
instance — contains DNA that will be present in test results, which
usually take five to seven days. He said a mitochondrial test, which
usually looks for DNA in hair samples, takes two to three days to
complete. Wecht said cellular tests are more accurate, but the
mitochondrial test is “still darn good enough for investigative
purposes.”

According to the police affidavit, at 4:04
Thursday morning a woman was walking on North Murtland Avenue when a man
approached her from behind, pointed a rifle at her and told her to stand
there while he shot her. The woman pleaded for her life, then ran and
screamed for someone to call the police.
The man fled.

About 90 minutes later, the woman was walking on Brushton Avenue and
noticed two black men talking on a corner. As she walked up a hill, one
of the men came up behind her. When he caught up with her, she realized
he was the man who had threatened to shoot her.

She said to the man, “This hill gets to you,” and the man agreed. At the
top, he was out of breath and sat down. She continued walking, more
quickly, and then heard someone running behind her. The man pulled a
.22-caliber rifle out of his pants and pointed it at her.

The woman, who is licensed to carry a gun, pulled out a .357 revolver
and shot the man, who collapsed near some steps. She yelled for someone
to call police.

When police arrived, they found the rifle in the grass where he had
dropped it. They later discovered that the rifle was stolen on Tuesday.
The suspect, who was shot twice in the abdomen, underwent surgery
yesterday morning.

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