Man held to court on rape charge

Feb. 05--MERCER -- A Shenango Township man scoffed and shook his head many times during police testimony at his preliminary hearing Thursday in Mercer District Court.

Vincent Capece, 38, of 28 Besco Drive, Apartment C, West Middlesex, is accused of physically and sexually abusing a woman during Jan. 20 and 25, and not allowing her to leave his sight, police said.

Capece was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by force, strangulation, aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment, stalking and unlawful restraint.

District Judge Daniel W. Davis held the charges over to Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Shenango Township Officer Joshua Natale testified that when he found the victim at 7:15 p.m.Jan. 25, in the roadway on North Mitchell Road near Mercer-West Middlesex Road, she was crying and visibly distraught. The victim said she was running from her boyfriend who had been abusing her.

As Natale described specific instances of abuse, Capece scoffed and at one point said, "Wow."

Natale took pictures of the injuries, which included bruising to the chest and arm, broken blood vessels in her eye, allegedly from Capece gouging it with his finger, and a cigarette burn on her inner thigh after the defendant allegedly put out a cigarette there, the officer testified.

The victim told Natale that the injuries had been sustained over a violent course of conduct that lasted several days, Natale said.

The officer testified that the victim described the alleged abuse that happened over the course of those days. She said Capece threw a knife at her and pointed out a hole in the dry wall consistent with a knife blade. She accused Capece of strangling her twice to the point of unconsciousness. She said he forced her to perform oral sex on him while holding her at knifepoint.

Natale testified that the victim told him Capece threatened to kill her several times and threatened to gouge out both of her eyes with a knife.

Capece is also accused of taking her phone and not allowing her to contact anyone except one time. The victim also stated that she screamed and cried when Capece put a lit cigarette out on her inner thigh.

The victim was also allegedly not allowed to be alone, Natale testified, and she had to accompany Capece to the mailbox and leave the bathroom door open when using it.

A witness told police he had heard screaming and crashing in the apartment Jan. 25 and saw the victim run away, Natale said.

Although the defense asked for a reduction of bail, Davis left it at $100,000. An April arraignment in Common Pleas Court is scheduled.

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