PITTSBURGH — A 16-year-old is facing numerous charges after officers said he robbed and assaulted a young couple walking around downtown Pittsburgh Sunday at gunpoint.
Javal West-Gray has been charged in connection with the robbery, which happened outside the hotel at the edge of Point State Park.
The victims told police West-Gray and two other teens approached them and demanded their shoes, a hoodie and a necklace before West-Gray used his gun to beat the man.
Police said they found the teenagers 11 minutes after the call came in. Two of the teens were released with summons for harassment. West-Gray was arrested and kicked multiple officers as he was being put into the back of the cruiser.
Pittsburgh has seen a 14% reduction in robberies over the past year, according to FBI statistics, and neighbors said crime has been a much smaller issue than it used to be.
“I guess you should always have concerns; I will say Mayor O’Connor has done a great job cleaning up a lot of those types of issues,” Ken Strauss said.
WPXI legal expert Phil DiLucente said he knew the officers in the case to be thorough, and did not believe their decision to let the other two teenagers involved go was another example of juveniles getting off easy in Allegheny County’s justice system.
The county has seen a number of serious crimes committed by teens and kids, which many attribute to lenient punishments handed to them when they are caught.
A Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman said investigators determined West-Gray was the primary driver of the robbery.
“Law enforcement, especially those officers, must’ve done their investigation and determined there was not a conspiracy,” DiLucente said.
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