PITTSBURGH — Police have arrested a second suspect in connection with several purse robberies in Shadyside.
Jacquet Pope Esposito, 26, of Wilkinsburg, was arrested Friday and charged with robbery, Pittsburgh police said. A 17-year-old girl was charged last week with robbery, criminal conspiracy and access device fraud.
One incident happened around 4:40 p.m. on Oct. 7. Police said a woman, 31, was walking on Ellsworth Avenue when another woman approached her from behind and grabbed her purse.
Police said the victim chased after the thief and encountered a second woman on Felix Avenue who was holding a gun. Despite that, a good Samaritan was able to get the victim’s purse back.
The victim identified Pope Esposito in a lineup as the woman who pointed the gun at her.
A second incident happened around 2 p.m. on Oct. 18. A woman, 77, was injured when two women stole her purse at the intersection of Ellsworth Avenue and Spahr Street, police said.
“All she knows is that she woke up with a mouth full of mud, lying on the ground in a puddle of blood,” the woman’s son told Channel 11 News. “It knocked her unconscious and really did damage to her face, neck, back and legs.”
A third robbery occurred on Oct. 31. Police said a woman, 22, was punched in the back of her head on Ellsworth Avenue.
Pope Esposito told police a much different story about her involvement in the robberies.
According to police paperwork, she told officers that "she was shopping at the Giant Eagle when she was approached by three suspects ... who stated to her, 'We are going to use you as our getaway car while we snatch purses.’”
Pope Esposito told police she "felt frightened and did as she was instructed, driving around Shadyside until they found a targeted victim,” the criminal complaint stated.
The investigation is ongoing, and police said they expect to question more women about the robberies.