Fugitive suspect in Savannah child rapes nabbed in New Jersey

March 7– A man wanted in Hardin County on eight counts of child rape was apprehended Friday, U.S. Marshal for West Tennessee Jeff Holt said.

Salvatore (Al) Pisano Jr., 52, was captured by marshals in West Long Branch, New Jersey, after they were contacted by marshals in West Tennessee and informed of his location, said Holt.

According to investigators with the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department, Pisano fled Tennessee shortly after an initial court appearance on the charges.

Pisano had been released from jail on a $100,000 bond, Hardin County Circuit Court officials said.

On Feb. 22, a warrant was issued for Pisano’s arrest when he failed to appear for a court hearing.

Holt said the local sheriff’s department contacted the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and requested the agency’s assistance in locating Pisano on the same day.

The joint investigation that followed, he said, revealed Pisano had fled to New Jersey. Acting on a tip Friday, marshals with the New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force began surveillance outside a business in West Long Branch, eventually spotting the fugitive.

Pisano was taken into custody at that time and was being held in lieu of $600,000 bail at the Monmouth County Jail, awaiting extradition to Hardin County, authorities said.

Pisano is accused of raping a 12-year-old girl on eight different days at a Savannah residence in Jan. 2010.

The defendant is scheduled to appear in Hardin County Circuit Court on March 17.