A Merrillville man faces charges he attacked and sexually assaulted two sex workers on the same day.
Emanuel A. Pugh Jr., 26, was charged Thursday with several felonies, including criminal confinement, and two counts of rape, all Level 3 felonies.
A charge for Level 1 felony rape – i.e. via a deadly weapon – was rejected for lack of probable cause. Pugh is in custody, held without bail.
Griffith Police responded on Jan. 23 to an apartment.
The woman, listed as Victim 2, first said she met Pugh via a dating app, invited him over but refused to have sex with him. Her relative came home to find blood on the floor.
The victim later admitted she agreed to have sex with him for $140 via a “hook up” website. The man sent her pictures of a young Hispanic man. Pugh, who is Black, showed up.
When he arrived, he punched and choked her, then threatened to shoot her. At some point, she passed out. He wrapped duct tape around her head, mouth and face, the affidavit states. The victim didn’t recall sex, but “felt” it may have happened.
She managed to run and lock herself inside a bedroom. The apartment went “quiet.” She later underwent a rape examination. He stole her phone, she said.
As Griffith Police looked for similar cases, Hammond Police responded at 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 23 to Motel 6, 3840 179th St.
A woman told them she agreed to have sex with a man on a “listcrawler” website for $200. The man messaged a selfie of a younger Hispanic male. A Black man in dark clothes, a hoodie and COVID-19 mask showed.
The man forced her into the room, pushed her to the floor and raped her. When she tried to escape, he tied her with bedsheets on the bed and continued to rape her.
He mentioned a gun but didn’t flash a weapon. He forced the woman to delete their messages and stole $400 from her. She also went for a sexual assault exam.
License plate readers and cellphone location data showed Pugh was in both places, the affidavit alleges. His Wisconsin driver’s license picture appeared to match the man caught on surveillance video.
His subpoenaed Google account appeared to show he visited the listcrawler website.
In the case, he was also charged with one count of Level 4 felony burglary, two counts of Level 5 felony robbery, one count of Level 5 felony battery, one count of Level 6 felony strangulation and one count of Level 6 felony confinement.
In May 2023, Pugh was charged after threatening and pressing a gun to his girlfriend’s head. A SWAT team was called.
mcolias@post-trib.com
