Former Regent Square Restaurateur's Rape Retrial Postponed

PITTSBURGH, PA - Former Regent Square restaurateur Adnan Pehlivan's retrial on sexual assault charges won't occur until February after a judge Tuesday granted a defense request for a postponement, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala's office announced. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Tuesday.

In March, a mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked on the most significant charges against him - sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and burglary. He was found not guilty of simple assault and stalking.

Pehlivan is accused of stalking the alleged victim and her friends from Kopy's Bar in the South Side to their home, then entering the residence through a basement apartment window and committing the sexual assault.

Prosecutors alleged that surveillance footage showed Pehlivan stalking the women in his car as they walked on East Carson Street.

The defense argued the alleged victim secretly told Pehlivan when she met him at Kopy's that she was interested in an encounter with him and told him to follow her home so her friends wouldn't know.

Pehlivian owned the former Istanbul Sofra in Regent Square at the time of his arrest but has since sold the restaurant, now known as Sahara. He also purchased the former Ryan's Pub next door and was planning to reopen it a Hilton's Lounge; those plans never materialized and the space is slated to reopen soon as the latest in the local Dive Bar chain.