A North Carolina man is headed to trial after months of stalking and “terrorizing his ex-girlfriend” in Crafton — including an alleged kidnapping and multiple manhunts involving more than a half-dozen local police forces.
Christian Andre Spruill, 36, waived a preliminary hearing Friday on 14 criminal charges, including felony counts of kidnapping and criminal mischief, court records show. Prosecutors withdrew 14 counts, including aggravated assault.
Spruill next heads to the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for a preliminary hearing on April 16. His attorney, Justin Ketchel, did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment.
Police charged Spruill in seven incidents between April and June 2025, court records show. In the fall, a judge issued his ex-girlfriend a restraining order against him.
Spruill has been held without bail in the Allegheny County Jail since Feb. 6, court records show.
In complaints, Spruill is listed as homeless or living at his then-girlfriend’s Crafton apartment. Elsewhere, he listed a home address in Kernersville, N.C. — a Winston-Salem suburb of about 25,000 residents about an hour’s drive south of the Virginia border.
Police in North Carolina took Spruill into custody in September, court records from that state show. He was extradited last month to Allegheny County.
The allegations
Crafton police first charged Spruill following an April 21, 2025, domestic dispute, according to criminal complaints. Officers had responded to the woman’s apartment at 2:42 a.m.
The woman, who TribLive is not naming, told Spruill not to come to her place that night, the complaints said. But, when she got home around 1 a.m., he was in her bed.
Police said the woman yelled at Spruill to leave. He then lunged at her, causing her to fall to the ground and cut her upper lip, police said.
The woman told police she tried to leave the apartment, the complaints said. Spruill blocked the door.
She then went into the bathroom and loaded her firearm — “due to being scared,” the complaint said.
When Spruill got into the bathroom, the pair started fighting, the complaint said. The alleged victim’s gun accidentally fired — but nobody was hit.
After officers took Spruill to the Allegheny County Jail, he was released the same day on nonmonetary bond, court records show.
Authorities barred Spruill from contacting his then-girlfriend, the complaints said. But, the woman said, Spruill “immediately began calling and texting her.”
Crafton police again filed charges.
“I called Christian and warned him that he needs to stop contacting (the alleged victim) or he would be arrested or his bond may be revoked,” Crafton police Sgt. Frank Scatena wrote in one of the complaints. “He stated that he understood.”
Crafton police did not respond Monday to a phone call seeking comment.
Searches for the suspet
In May, authorities in Crafton charged Spruill after, they said, he tried to kidnap the woman. It is unclear in court records when the two ended their relationship.
Police said Spruill had gone to the woman’s home as she prepared to go to see a movie. A “heated and angry verbal encounter” took place.
Spruill then took his ex-girlfriend’s phone from her and “aggressively grabbed and held” onto her as he “forcefully placed” the woman in his Toyota 4Runner, the complaints said.
The SUV sped away “recklessly” as the pair argued, the complaints said. The woman told police she “kept trying to turn the car off, put it in park, get a hold of the wheel and get a hold of (the victim’s) phone.”
Police said the truck went over a hillside and knocked down a fence on Chartiers Avenue before coming to a stop.
Spruill fled, leaving behind his red sneakers, police said. Officers from McKees Rocks and North Fayette join Crafton police as they canvassed the area with a drone and a police dog — without luck.
After a June 5, 2025, incident, Crafton police said they searched for Spruill alongside officers from Crafton, Ingram, Green Tree and Carnegie.
North Fayette police scanned the borough with a drone. South Fayette police brought a bloodhound; Pittsburgh police brought a police dog. They were unsuccessful.
In September, a judge issued the woman a temporary restraining order against Spruill, court records show. A month later, a judge extended the protection from abuse order through 2028.
Around that time, authorities in North Carolina took Spruill into custody, court records show. He was moved to Pittsburgh from a North Carolina jail in February. He was arraigned here Feb. 6.
District judge Thomas Miller Jr. denied Spruill bail, court records show. “Defendant is a danger to the victim,” the judge wrote.
A second judge again denied Spruill bail seven days later.