2 teens captured after carjacking Uber driver in Pittsburgh, police say

A Homewood teen cut off his probation ankle monitor and joined a second teen to carjack an Uber driver early Thursday, before leading Pittsburgh police on a high-speed chase that ended in Penn Hills with their capture, officials said.

Police charged Patrick Beatty, 16, with robbery of a motor vehicle, simple assault, criminal conspiracy, fleeing a police officer, evading arrest on foot, possessing instruments of crime, flight to avoid apprehension, driving without lights to avoid identification or arrest, and reckless driving, court records show.

Beatty is in the Allegheny County Jail and has a preliminary hearing Wednesday. He will be tried in court as an adult, police said.

Police charged Tyrese Olverson, 19, also of Homewood, with robbery of a motor vehicle, simple assault, criminal conspiracy, possessing instruments of crime, and tampering with evidence, court records show.

Olverson was arrested Thursday, Pittsburgh Public Safety Spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. It was unclear if he remained in jail Friday.

The Uber driver picked up the two teens around 2 a.m. in his 2011 Honda CRV, according to a criminal complaint in the case. Once they reached the intersection of Kedron and Sterrett streets in Homewood, Beatty pointed a gun at the driver and ordered him to exit the SUV.

The teens then hopped in the front seats and fled.

The driver, who told police he feared for his life, quickly called 911. Pittsburgh police officers from Zone 5 arrived at 2:05 a.m.

Beatty and Olverson raced at about 75 to 80 miles per hour towards Frankstown Avenue, the complaint said. A police officer found and followed them, then activated his lights and siren. The teens were not deterred. They switched off the SUV’s headlights so they were harder to track.

At the intersection of Frankstown Road and Robinson Boulevard, Beatty tried to turn, but instead jumped a high curb and crashed the SUV into a utility pole, police said.

Beatty exited the SUV and ran across a gas-station parking lot, pressing his right hand to his waist line — possibly trying to hold or conceal a weapon, the complaint said. A K-9, Max, chased him. When Max got close, he bit Beatty’s upper left bicep.

The teen collapsed and police handcuffed him.

Olverson was captured after he ran, with both hands in the air, toward a nearby building, police said.

Another K-9, Pluto, found Beatty’s weapon — which turned out to be a BB gun — on the ground, the complaint said. The BB gun was completely black, missing its signature orange tip, and attempted to mimic a full-sized 9mm pistol.

Penn Hills medics and police took the teens to UPMC Presbyterian hospital for evaluation.

While en route to the hospital, Beatty told police he recently cut his ankle monitor from Allegheny County Juvenile Probation, the complaint said. Juvenile Probation, when contacted by police, confirmed a warrant was issued for Beatty’s arrest last week.

Olverson, once at the hospital, made a “suicidal statement” to a doctor and was taken to UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and Clinic, police said.

The driver was not injured.