PFA was pending before kidnapping of woman, 3-year-old child

BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Police said a woman who was kidnapped on Monday along with her 3-year-old child was in the process of taking out a protection from abuse order against her accused assailant.

The woman’s ex-boyfriend, 30-year-old Bryan Celovsky, is charged with two counts of attempted homicide, kidnapping and several other criminal offenses.

Officers were sent about 10:30 a.m. to the home on Prescott Drive after a 911 call and hang-up. When they arrived, they discovered that there had been forced entry into the home and that the woman and her child were missing.

Police said Celovsky kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and their 3-year-old son from their home and forced them into the back of a U-Haul van. The complaint stated that the woman was hit repeatedly in the head with a cellphone and Celovsky threatened to kill both her and her child as he drove them around.

The criminal complaint says Celovsky was mad that the woman had talked to police about a theft he was charged with and said that "he hated her and could not believe she 'ratted' him out.” Celovsky allegedly went on to say that "his only option was to kill her and (their son.)"

The woman was able to escape when Celovsky stopped the van at a gas station in West Mifflin and she jumped into the driver's, sped away and flagged down police. The child was not hurt, but the woman was taken to a hospital.

Celovsky was taken into custody Monday night after a SWAT standoff on Rodgers Street in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood.

On Tuesday, officials told Channel 11 that a different woman had taken out a PFA against Celovsky last week.

The director for the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, Nicole Molinaro Karaczun, said she is all too familiar with this kind of story.

"Hopefully he will have the criminal punishment that he should have and that the court systems will hold him accountable so that she's able to be safe,” Karaczun said.

Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.

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