A Munhall teen snatched cash from a woman’s hand Friday outside a Downtown Pittsburgh convenience store, assaulted her and another woman after they confronted him, then dragged one of the women down the street, police said.
Later that same morning, Giovanni Moore, 19, tried swiping a woman’s bag and punched a man in the face in a Downtown plaza, according to a criminal complaint.
The Friday attacks marked the ninth and 10th times police have charged Moore in August alone.
A Pittsburgh police officer described the alleged repeat offender in court paperwork as “the main cause of a series of violent crimes in the Downtown area.”
Moore was being held Monday in the Allegheny County Jail, unable to post $30,000 in combined bail in the two cases, court records show.
Police charged Moore Friday with robbery, three counts of simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and drug possession in connection with the incidents, which they said started around 8:30 a.m. near Heinz Hall and ended an hour later in nearby Agnes R. Katz Plaza, the complaint said.
Police said two women — identified in court records as Lori Radcliffe and Fotene Koukna — were standing outside a Penn Avenue 7-Eleven when Moore approached Radcliffe and “forcibly took” $20 out of her hand about 8:25 a.m.
When the women attempted to confront the teen, he punched Koukna twice in the face, the complaint said. He then started punching Radcliffe in the face, “pulled her down to the ground” and began dragging her along the street.
Police said Moore ran from the area and boarded a bus. The two women, who declined medical attention, flagged down police.
Koukna showed Pittsburgh police Officer Aaron Bowser a photograph she snapped of the assailant.
Bowser said in the complaint that he “immediately (was) able to identify the male as Giovanni Moore.”
An hour later, police said they found Moore on a park bench on Ninth Street. When officers approached, the teen resisted arrest and “took an aggressive stance as to try and fight with officers,” according to the complaint.
Officers “assisted (Moore) to the ground,” where he continued resisting arrest, the complaint said. Police handcuffed him.
A man, Andreas Veneris, told police Moore punched him in the face around 9:21 a.m. near Agnes R. Katz Plaza, an outdoor public space set at the intersection of Seventh Street and Penn Avenue, according to the complaint. Moore ran away and tried to steal a woman’s bag, police said.
Police said Veneris, who also declined medical treatment, later identified Moore as the man who attacked him.
Officers found a small amount of marijuana in Moore’s right pocket, the complaint said. They took him to the Allegheny County Jail.
Moore’s attorney was not listed Monday in online court records.
Police from four departments have charged Moore 10 different times this month, with counts including disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, court records show. Pittsburgh police arrested Moore on allegations of stealing tip jars from multiple Downtown businesses.
Since December, Moore has racked up arrests in Pittsburgh, Homestead and Munhall. The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office has also filed charges.
Moore is set to appear in Allegheny County Common Pleas court in September on two separate sets of drug charges Pittsburgh police filed this May, court records show.
Attorney Jeffrey R. Wasak, who represents Moore in both drug cases, did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment.
None of the victims in the Friday attacks responded Monday to emails and phone calls.
Cara Cruz, a police spokeswoman, said Moore and the victims did not know each other. Cruz also said “seemingly random acts of violence are, in fact, rare in the city.”