PITTSBURGH — A man was arrested Saturday after a woman told police he tried to steal her cellphone by spraying her with hairspray.
The alleged victim told police that she was walking on the Boulevard of the Allies about 11:30 a.m. when she felt a mist being sprayed around her.
The woman told Channel 11’s Vince Sims that she sensed a strange smell and moments later, a man grabbed her by the shoulder.
She did not want to be identified, but said, “All of a sudden, the spray gets closer and closer to the corner of my face and eye. I had sunglasses on and the next thing you know I'm struggling with a man trying to get my cellphone out of my hand.”
She said she began to struggle with the man, later identified as Daniel Jenkins, while she screamed for help. The woman eventually let go of her phone and Jenkins fled on foot with it.
According to the woman, she and several good Samaritans chased Jenkins down the street. They eventually caught up to him in a parking garage between Third and Fourth avenues.
The woman said three men held Jenkins until police arrived. Sims reported that Jenkins is the son of a former county police officer.
The woman told Sims that she is scared now because she’s heard of this happening to other people who also live downtown.
“It was just so crazy and surreal. I’m still in shock about the whole ordeal,” she said.