Pittsburgh Restaurant Owner Charged With Sexual Assault Takes Stand In His Defense
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Closing arguments will be held on Tuesday in the trial of a former Pittsburgh restaurant owner charged with sexually assaulting a woman he met in a bar.
On Monday, he took the stand in his defense.
When deliberations begin, the jury will consider two different stories about what happened the night of May 14.
One version from 46-year-old Adnan Pehlivan and the other from his alleged victim he met at Kopy's Bar on the South Side.
Pehlivan is seen on video surveillance doing shots with the woman and her friend. He admitted they were all intoxicated and he claims she said she wanted to hook up with him.
Pehlivan says she didn't want her friends to know he was going home with her and just told him to follow them. Pehlivan, who is also accused of stalking, followed the women in his BMW, stopping repeatedly and letting them pass.
Eventually, Pehlivan found the woman's apartment. He testified that she opened the door and let him inside. Once inside, he says they began kissing and having consensual sex. He claims all of a sudden she became a different person, screaming "who are you, and what are you doing here."
The victim told the jury she never wanted to hook up with Pehlivan and did not tell him to follow her home.
She testified the he broke into her apartment by climbing through a window and she woke up screaming during a sexual assault. She also claimed he punched her and pushed her into a laundry basket after she tore the buttons from his shirt during the struggle.