Man Faces Charges for Harassing Wilkinsburg District Court Staff

Michael Royster, 32, of Wilkinsburg waived his right to a preliminary hearing before District Judge Thomas Caulfield after being accused of making more than 25 calls to the office of District Judge Kim M. Hoots in Wilkinsburg on Jan. 26.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Wilkinsburg police, Royster originally called the district court office to complain about being evicted from his residence. He had been advised several times on how to handle the eviction, the complaint stated.

Royster is accused of later threatening the employees, judge and police in each of the calls he made.

He faces a formal arraignment in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court at 11 a.m. April 16 on three counts of harassment-communicate lews, threatening, etc. language; and three counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another.

In other cases heard by Caulfield last week:

• Kristen Ayonne Winston, 18, of Plum Borough waived her right to a preliminary hearing on charges of two counts of driving under the influence (general impairment/incapable of driving safely, first offense), driving under the influence (minor, first offense), driving under the influence (highest rate of alcohol, blood alcohol content .16+, first offense). Charges of disregarding traffic lane (single), driving at a safe speed and careless driving were withdrawn. According to a criminal complaint, Winston was involved in a one-vehicle crash on the Parkway East in Churchill on Dec. 23, 2012. By the time state police arrived, she had already been transported to UPMC Presbyterian hospital. When an officer interviewed her at the hospital, he detected a moderate odor of alcohol on her breath and person. Her eyes were bloodshot and her speech was slurred, according to the complaint. She consented to a blood test, which was taken to the Allegheny County Crime Lab for analysis. Her blood alcohol content was measured at .17 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.

• Susan Howe, 46, of Swissvale waived her right to a preliminary hearing on two counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance and one count of use/possession of drug paraphernalia. On Oct. 17, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Narcotics Enforcement Team was conducting operations and observed a hand-to-hand drug transaction occur between Howe's neighbor and an unknown man in the 2300 block of Milligan Avenue. admitted to purchasing two bags of heroin, using one and giving the second one to a neighbor, Howe. When police approached Howe on Oct. 17, she turned over one full stamp bag of heroin, a small amount of marijuana and various prescription medicines for which she had no prescription. Police also recovered a pipe used to smoke marijuana and a dollar bill used to snort heroin or crushed pills.

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