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scottobear Mistaken abduction
ALIQUIPPA - What at least one motorist and Aliquippa police initially thought was an abduction turned out to be a misunderstanding.
Aliquippa police reported Thursday morning that they were looking for a woman who they said climbed into the trunk of a stolen car that was last seen traveling on the city's Kennedy Boulevard early Thursday.
Police Chief Ralph Pallante said a city woman who was driving to work around 4 a.m. told police that as she approached a parked car in the 800 block of Franklin Avenue, she saw a woman climb into its open trunk.
A man with her then closed the trunk, got into the car and drove off.
Pallante said the witness, who was not identified, took down the car's license plate number as she followed it to Kennedy Boulevard and provided the number to police along with descriptions of the man, woman and car in which they were riding.
The license matched that of a car rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Monaca. The car was rented to an Angelo Deblassio, 40, of 163 Rosemont Drive, Moon Township, and was supposed to be returned two weeks ago.
Monaca police reported the car stolen Thursday, and in an attempt to locate the woman, Aliquippa police used the state's new "A Child is Missing" program, which was unveiled last week.
The computer-generated program uses a telephone-alert system to notify people in a specific area to be on the lookout for someone. On Thursday, all homes within a half-mile of the 800 block of Franklin Avenue were called and notified of the possible abduction.
Pallante said several residents in the area called police with tips after receiving the message.
But there was no abduction.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, police tracked down Deblassio - actually, he tracked them down.
Pallante said that while Deblassio was in Stevie's Dari Mart, a few people told him they had seen television news reports linking him to a possible abduction earlier in the day.
Deblassio walked outside and flagged down a nearby police car driven by Cpl. Dave Bobanic, who took Deblassio to the station to be questioned.
Deblassio told police that after he was released from the Allegheny County Jail on Wednesday, he took a bus home to pick up the rental car (which he had because his pickup was in the shop) and then drove back to Pittsburgh to attend the Rolling Stones concert with a female friend from Pittsburgh, who was not identified.
At 4 a.m., when the pair was on Franklin Avenue, Deblassio, who is separated from his wife, saw an approaching car and thought it was a brother-in-law, Pallante said. The woman dived into the trunk, and Deblassio got behind the wheel and sped off.
"Apparently, it was her idea to get in the trunk," Pallante said.
No charges were filed against Deblassio, Pallante said. Enterprise Rent-A-Car said it would not press charges if the car was returned.
ALIQUIPPA - What at least one motorist and Aliquippa police initially thought was an abduction turned out to be a misunderstanding.
Aliquippa police reported Thursday morning that they were looking for a woman who they said climbed into the trunk of a stolen car that was last seen traveling on the city's Kennedy Boulevard early Thursday.
Police Chief Ralph Pallante said a city woman who was driving to work around 4 a.m. told police that as she approached a parked car in the 800 block of Franklin Avenue, she saw a woman climb into its open trunk.
A man with her then closed the trunk, got into the car and drove off.
Pallante said the witness, who was not identified, took down the car's license plate number as she followed it to Kennedy Boulevard and provided the number to police along with descriptions of the man, woman and car in which they were riding.
The license matched that of a car rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Monaca. The car was rented to an Angelo Deblassio, 40, of 163 Rosemont Drive, Moon Township, and was supposed to be returned two weeks ago.
Monaca police reported the car stolen Thursday, and in an attempt to locate the woman, Aliquippa police used the state's new "A Child is Missing" program, which was unveiled last week.
The computer-generated program uses a telephone-alert system to notify people in a specific area to be on the lookout for someone. On Thursday, all homes within a half-mile of the 800 block of Franklin Avenue were called and notified of the possible abduction.
Pallante said several residents in the area called police with tips after receiving the message.
But there was no abduction.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, police tracked down Deblassio - actually, he tracked them down.
Pallante said that while Deblassio was in Stevie's Dari Mart, a few people told him they had seen television news reports linking him to a possible abduction earlier in the day.
Deblassio walked outside and flagged down a nearby police car driven by Cpl. Dave Bobanic, who took Deblassio to the station to be questioned.
Deblassio told police that after he was released from the Allegheny County Jail on Wednesday, he took a bus home to pick up the rental car (which he had because his pickup was in the shop) and then drove back to Pittsburgh to attend the Rolling Stones concert with a female friend from Pittsburgh, who was not identified.
At 4 a.m., when the pair was on Franklin Avenue, Deblassio, who is separated from his wife, saw an approaching car and thought it was a brother-in-law, Pallante said. The woman dived into the trunk, and Deblassio got behind the wheel and sped off.
"Apparently, it was her idea to get in the trunk," Pallante said.
No charges were filed against Deblassio, Pallante said. Enterprise Rent-A-Car said it would not press charges if the car was returned.
