Woman says she was tied up, beaten in basement

Three charged with kidnapping, assault

An Arnold woman told police she was stripped, beaten and left tied up in a basement for hours over the weekend by her boyfriend and two other women.

Angel Mangol, 21, said she thought Michael Battaglia, 40, Stephanie Unruh, 30, and Devon Hamilton, 25, were going to kill her.

“I could see it in Mike’s eyes,” Ms. Mangol said Tuesday. “He literally told me I was going to die. … And I honestly believed him.”

Ms. Mangol and the others were at Mr. Battaglia’s house in the 200 block of 16th Street late Saturday when the four began to argue, according to a police report. Mr. Battaglia’s 4-year-old daughter also was in the house.

Mr. Battaglia, Ms. Unruh and Ms. Hamilton stripped Ms. Mangol and dragged her down to the basement, the report said. Ms. Hamilton tied Ms. Mangol to a post, and Mr. Battaglia punched her several times and hit her with a broom handle, she told police.

Ms. Mangol said she freed herself after the other three went upstairs. But she said she could hear them talking and decided to hide in the basement instead of running out of the house.

The three eventually returned and found Ms. Mangol hiding between the furnace and the water heater. Ms. Mangol said they tied her to a chair by her neck, torso,

arms and legs and went back upstairs.

“When Mike tied me to the chair, he tied me full force,” Ms. Mangol said. “I couldn’t move whatsoever. It took me an hour to shimmy my foot outof the bottom tie.”

Ms. Mangol said she finally freed herself after eight hours. She put on a hoodie and sweatpants and listened “very carefully” to hear whether anyone was awake upstairs. She said she heard Mr. Battaglia tell his daughter that he was in the bathroom, checked to make sure no one else was around, and ran outside.

“I creaked the [basement] door open, looked out and saw his daughter, and ran to the front door, which was unlocked,”Ms. Mangol said.

It was just before 9 a.m. Sunday when Ms. Mangol ran across the street to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor tried to calm the woman and called police.

When officers arrived at the house, Ms. Mangol showed them injuries all over her body from the beating. She told police Mr. Battaglia also had burned her with a cigarette.

Officers arrested Mr. Battaglia and Ms. Hamilton. Ms. Unruh had left by that time, and police obtained a warrant for her arrest. Arnold police charged all three with kidnapping and aggravated assault.

Ms. Mangol said she was not sure why Mr. Battaglia turned on her so harshly. Ms. Unruh of New Kensington and Ms. Hamilton of Mount Pleasant were Mr. Battaglia’s friends, but Ms. Mangol said shedidn’t know them well.

Ms. Mangol has been staying with a friend and said she wants justice.

“It was very bad,” she said.

Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1352.