Woman robbed, assaulted by stranger after finding him in her car at Ross Towne Center, police say

A woman was assaulted and robbed by a stranger she found sitting in the front seat of her car after she left work at the Ross Towne Center on Tuesday night, police said.

The Ross Police Department said 25-year-old Travis Patricca of McCandless is facing charges of robbery, simple assault and possessing instruments of crime after the strong-arm robbery in the shopping center's parking lot. 

Ross police said the victim called 911 shortly after 9 p.m. and said that a man had just taken items from inside her car and driven his bike onto McKnight Road.

The victim told police that when she got into her car after leaving work, she found a stranger in the front passenger seat. Police said she asked the man, later identified as Patricca, "Why are you in my car?" Patricca started to get out and said, "I'm not," police said. 

"She has her purse with her; he grabs her purse off of her and kinda pushes her, he jumps on his bike and tries to take off," Ross Deputy Chief Brian Kohlhepp said. "She actually chases after him and is able to retrieve her purse. With that, he knocks her pretty hard to the ground. She suffered some scrapes and bruises from that but was otherwise uninjured." 

Police said they followed Patricca to the Guardians self-storage lot. He got off his bike and ran into the woods, and after forming a perimeter and getting help from a Pittsburgh K-9 unit, police said they found him about two hours later. 

While searching Patricca, police said they found key fobs and a programming device to unlock cars. 

"Those are restricted, and generally those companies only sell to locksmiths, so I'm not sure where he was able to come across one of these devices, and they're kind of expensive," Kohlhepp said. 

And while police warn there's no prevention for these kinds of devices, they also say you should avoid physical confrontation. 

"We would advise people just to get a really good description," Kohlhepp said. "Get a picture with their phone or something like that if they can. But really, just be the best witness they can be and protect themselves."

Patricca was arraigned and is being held in the Allegheny County Jail after his bail was denied.