Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Woman uses toe to tap for help after robbery
The woman -- identified by a name plate in the window as Tineia Rose -- was visibly shaken but not injured in the incident that occurred at ACE America's Cash Express office in the 700 block of Penn Avenue.
Wilkinsburg police Lt. Todd Ruggiero said the ordeal began about 8:30 a.m. before the business opened for the day.
Rose was using her keys to open the front door when she said she was approached by a black man wearing a red hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head.
The man pointed a gun at her and forced her inside where he ordered her to open the safe, Ruggiero said.
He then forced her into a back office where he bound her with cords and other items and gagged her with a scarf.
The gunman fled with what Ruggiero called "a substantial amount" of cash.
Rose struggled for a time until she finally managed to break one leg free, Ruggiero said.
She somehow grabbed a telephone with her feet and pulled it to her. She managed to use her toe to dial 911 about 9:30 a.m., Ruggiero said.
Police could not get through the locked security office door. Firefighters and paramedics were called to open the door and free the woman.
More Pittsburgh, Allegheny headlines
- Icy conditions close HOV lanes on I-279 north of Pittsburgh
- Humar believes in being UPMC surgeon first, administrator second
- Defendant cooperates with DA in Meadows casino theft
- Planners need billions to rehabilitate roadways, bridges
- UPMC unit to increase use of organs from living donors
- Autopsy shows Hill District baby in bin was stillborn
- Cranberry couple under investigation in use of orphans' trust fund
- Fewer flights don't result in fewer authority workers in Allegheny
