Abduction & SWAT Situation Leads To Prostitution Ring Bust
SOUTH SIDE (KDKA) - A local couple is accused of running a prostitution ring online and out of their South Side home.
According to police, this was an ongoing investigation that actually started in July. But, everything came to a head Thursday following an abduction and shooting at a South Side home, where police now believe a prostitution business was being run.
However, police said Friday afternoon that the abduction was not related to the prostitution investigation.
Pittsburgh Police say woman abducted yesterday had nothing to do with prostitution investigation
— Harold Hayes (@hhayes_harold) October 2, 2015
Police responded to a house on South 22nd Street early Thursday morning. Shots were fired and a woman was taken from the home.
Police believe that woman, who has not been identified, was taken to Munhall, which led to a 10-hour standoff with 31-year-old James Carlini.
Once police entered the home in the early afternoon, Carlini was found dead with a gunshot wound to the neck and one to the temple.
Multiple people were brought in for questioning, including several from the home on South 22nd Street.
Detectives realized that two of those people being questioned were actually part of a separate investigation into a prostitution business.
Police say Davin Gartley, 38, and Samantha James, 24, had been posting ads on Pittsburgh Backpage.
During an interview, Gartley allegedly admitted to being a pimp and offering some of the young girls heroin as compensation for their services. Police believe James was also part of the operation.
Police say Gartley told one female, "I am a pimp ... you're a (expletive) and I will make you rich."
One of the prostitutes questioned by detectives said that James took her to a home on Sept. 30 so she could have sex with a man.
But now police say even though the house was shot up and a woman was abducted, police say it was coincidence.
"That was not related to our -- the shooting was not related to our investigation," said Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Linda Barone. "I believe it was over some sort of dispute with the occupants of the residence at the time."
The actor in the abduction visited the property, but wasn't soliciting for prostitution at that time police say.
Police believe Gartley was also using other properties he owns for women to meet with clients, including one on Kirk Avenue in Carrick.
Both he and James are now facing several counts of promoting prostitution and are being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
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