Man robbed, pepper sprayed at Downtown bus stop as community calls for even more patrols

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police said a man was pepper sprayed, robbed, and beaten at a Downtown bus stop.

Around 4:30 Wednesday morning, police were dispatched to the intersection of Smithfield Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard for a report of a robbery. A man told police he and his sister were sitting at a bus stop when a group of men approached him from different angles. He said one of the men pepper sprayed him, and another held him down while the first suspect hit him and dug through his pockets.

They got away with money and his gold chain, then ran down Smithfield and onto First Avenue.

Police eventually caught up with the men and identified two of them as John Brandon and Darrell Palmer, arresting them both. Palmer said he acted in self-defense when he pepper sprayed the man, who he claimed tried to use a knife, but police never found one. They did, however, find crack cocaine.

“Not surprised…I know a lot of activity happens at this bus stop, this is one of the hotspots Pittsburgh police are always watching,” said Deb Shanahan, a commercial property manager

Less than 24 hours before, a man was shot after an apparent road rage incident in broad daylight Tuesday afternoon, behind one of the buildings Shanahan manages. She and others who work downtown are hoping to see even more of a police presence, as the city continues its efforts for more high visibility patrols.

“Whether they’re concentrating down in the Cultural District where there’s more people, or are they coming out here into the outer limits of downtown…I think that’s where more visibility is needed,” Shanahan said.

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