Arrest made after woman assaulted, robbed near University of Pittsburgh campus

PITTSBURGH — An arrest has been made in an assault and robbery near the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.

According to university police, the incident happened just after 12:30 a.m. Thursday along Fifth Avenue, a busy area full of students even late at night. Jason Moran, 28, was later arrested, police announced Thursday night.

“That’s absolutely horrifying,” said Pitt freshman Izzy Seidman. “I hope she’s doing OK now after everything.”

Investigators said the victim was walking down the street when her hair was grabbed, and she was groped over her clothes and thrown to the ground before the suspect took off with a bag of food she was carrying.

“Being a female in a city and walking down the streets, especially that late at night, if she was by herself, that’s something that I must constantly think about walking around,” said Seidman.

Pitt has not said if the woman was a student but did say she was not injured. She was able to provide police with a description of her attacker.

Moran was taken to the Allegheny County Jail. He is facing multiple charges for assault and robbery.

According to Lou Armstrong, this is not the first incident in that area of Fifth Avenue.

Armstrong is the stepfather of a Pitt student and he reached out to Channel 11 after seeing our report Thursday morning from the Breaking News Desk on Channel 11 Morning News.

He said he and his stepdaughter called Pitt police just days ago, on Sunday afternoon, after witnessing a similar incident.

“There was a guy standing there with his hands down his pants harassing people,” Armstrong explained. “He was growling at people when they walked by and, at one point, he either bumped or tried to grab or said something to one girl, because she turned around and started yelling at him.”

It’s unclear if the two incidents are connected.

If you know anything about either incident, you’re asked to contact University of Pittsburgh police or Pittsburgh police.

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