PITTSBURGH \u2014 Pittsburgh Police are investigating a robbery that turned into an assault in Squirrel Hill. The victim says businesses along Murray Avenue need to be on guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just been robbed, get up here now,\u201d said Autumn Janosov.<\/p>\n
That was the call Autumn Janosov got Thursday morning from her grandfather, Ron Cope, who was opening up the Steel Town Tavern restaurant along Murray Avenue.<\/p>\n
Janosov, who owns Steel Town Tavern, said, \u201cTypically he is always here that early, so in my eyes they had to have been watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was 9 a.m. when Cope, who is in his 70s, put the specials sign outside the business. He says a man he didn\u2019t know followed him into the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy figured I was an old man, and he got a shock when he seen what I did,\u201d Cope said.<\/p>\n
Because of the injuries Cope suffered, we spoke with him over the phone. Cope says the stranger is homeless and saw cash on the bar that he quickly swiped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said give me my money back and I like grabbed his arm and he slammed me on the floor of the bar,\u201d Cope said. \u201dI opened the door up; he grabbed me. Threw me to the ground and into a car – headfirst, and I scraped my arm up and hit my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe chased after him across the street finally ended up getting a hand on him. There was two other homeless men waiting for that guy and must have passed my money off to them. Because when the cops had searched him, he didn\u2019t have any of my money on him,\u201d Janosov said.<\/p>\n
Cope was able to hold the man on the ground until officers arrived<\/p>\n
Our cameras captured a man panhandling along Murray Avenue right across from Steel Town Tavern. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is at every business; it is at every street corner. It is everywhere. They sleep directly outside every night,\u201d Janosov explained.<\/p>\n
She and her grandfather say it\u2019s an issue that needs to be addressed so it doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cPeople want to live here. People want to bring their kids here, people want to walk up and down the avenue and feel safe, and if these things are happening at 9 in the morning, what\u2019s happening at night?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Police told Janosov that they\u2019ll be doing extra patrols along Murray Avenue. <\/p>\n
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