A McKeesport man who was wearing body armor is charged with fleeing from law enforcement, attempted carjacking and causing a traffic crash after he led an Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputy on a chase Wednesday night.
Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus said the chase went from Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood to Banksville Road.
Kraus said in a written statement released Thursday that the episode began at about 8:30 p.m. the previous night when a deputy on routine patrol spotted 22-year-old Tyler Stewart driving erratically at a high rate of speed on Bausman Street. The deputy attempted a traffic stop.
The deputy pursued Stewart’s Jeep Cherokee along Saw Mill Run Boulevard and Crane Avenue onto Banksville Road, where the Jeep crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of McMonagle Avenue.
The driver of the other car suffered a broken pelvis in the wreck, Kraus said.
Stewart then fled on foot into the parking lot of Banksville Plaza, where he tried to pull an elderly man out of a car but was chased by two witnesses, according to the sheriff.
Stewart crossed Banksville Road before he was tackled by the witnesses and taken into custody by the deputy and city police officers.
Kraus said Stewart was clad in body armor. He said there was a handgun and an assault-style weapon, each with a loaded clip, found in the Jeep.
“While we can’t say with any certainty what this individual’s intentions were last night, it’s clear from the way he was outfitted and from the items recovered from the car, that he is an extremely dangerous person who posed a significant threat to the safety of our community,” Kraus said Thursday.
Stewart was taken to the Allegheny County Jail for arraignment on charges also including illegal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of body armor, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault by vehicle and multiple other vehicular violations.
He faces an Aug. 26 preliminary hearing.
He also is facing detainers on bench warrants from Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland counties, Kraus said.
