Police: Man robs woman, uses key fob programmer to access her car at Ross Town Center
PITTSBURGH —
A 25-year-old man was arrested in Ross Township after police say he used a key fob programmer to access a woman’s car, shoved her to the ground, and hid in the woods for hours before being caught.
Ross Township police said Travis Patricca got into an altercation with the woman outside her workplace near Ross Town Center on McKnight Road.
“She comes out to her vehicle, she sees that there’s a male on the passenger side in her car,” said Brian Kohlhepp, deputy chief of Ross Township Police. “And she confronts him immediately. What are you doing? You know, why are you in my car?”
The victim said, “I confronted him, and he tried to grab my purse. He shoved me to the ground, as I was trying to fight for my purse. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen right outside of work.”
Patricca fled the scene on a bicycle, and the woman called 911. Police tracked him to the woods near the Guardian Storage building across McKnight Road, where he hid for two and a half hours.
“With the assistance of K9s, as well as having our drones up in the area. So the drones were there to help look for him. But again, he was in the heavy brush there; it really came down. Officers just, you know, arm by arm, walking through the brush until they finally located him,” Kohlhepp said.
Police said Patricca appeared to be living in the wooded area, as they found cooking supplies and tents with him. He also allegedly had multiple key fobs and electronic devices for programming them.
“Those are restricted. And generally those companies only sell to locksmiths. So I’m not sure where he was able to come across one of these devices,” Kohlhepp said.
The victim sustained bruising to her arms and legs during the scuffle but was otherwise unharmed.
“We would advise people just to get a really good description, get a picture with their phone or something like that if they can. But really just to be the best witness they can be and make sure they protect themselves. Confronting someone. Again, here, it worked out okay. But the problem is you just, you never know what you’re dealing with,” Kohlhepp said.
Patricca is charged with robbery, possession of instruments of crime, and simple assault. He was denied bail and is currently in the Allegheny County Jail.