https://staging.triblive.com/local/westmoreland/convicted-trafford-rapist-accused-of-assaulting-woman-in-penn-township/
Convicted Trafford rapist accused of attacking woman in Penn Township
A sex offender who served a lengthy prison sentence for rape is back behind bars after Penn Township police charged him with attacking a woman he solicited for sex.
Paul Daniel Zagwoski, 56, of Trafford is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $100,000 bail on misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, theft and related offenses.
Investigators were called Aug. 9 to an area along First Street between Trafford and Level Green where a woman reported being assaulted by a man later identified as Zagwoski, according to court papers. She told authorities Zagwoski offered her $150 for sex when he picked her up in Pittsburgh about 9 a.m.
During the ride from Pittsburgh into Westmoreland County, they stopped at a gas station, where authorities said Zagwoski bought cigarettes and condoms. After they reached Penn Township, the woman reported Zagwoski pulled out a knife and punched and kicked her, according to court papers.
She fled into a nearby field while Zagwoski drove away with her belongings. A person driving by stopped to help her and she was taken to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, police said.
Investigators identified Zagwoski as the suspect by looking at surveillance video from the gas station and tracking his movements through license plate readers and a GPS monitoring system as part of his state parole, according to court papers.
Zagwoski did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 20.
He is required to be registered as a sex offender for life under a 1988 rape conviction in Allegheny County, according to his Megan’s Law registration and court records. He was sentenced in 1988 to 20 to 40 years in a state prison in connection with the kidnapping and rape of a woman in Allegheny County.
News reports from the time indicated he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years for writing a threatening letter to President Ronald Reagan while at the Allegheny County Jail. Zagwoski was released in August 2020, according to state prison records.
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