Juvenile arrested following robbery, shots fired in Pittsburgh's Beechview neighborhood
BEECHVIEW, Pa. (KDKA) - Pittsburgh police arrested a 17-year-old after he allegedly stole a tip jar from a Beechview business, fired a gun, and led officers on a lengthy chase Saturday afternoon.
It left the neighborhood on edge, and the son of the business owner says it's not the first time this happened.
Investigators said it started at the Las Palmas taco stand off Broadway.
Aaron Herrell is the business owner's son. He was there when a teen was in line, waiting to buy some tacos, and made a rash decision.
"They just said it was out of nowhere," Herrell said. "Just took the tip jar and ran off."
Herrell and the other workers chased the guy down Hampshire, Herrell in his car. When the teen reached Rutherford, he took out his gun, fired some shots at the workers, and kept running. Herrell then ran into him, where the guy again pulled out his weapon. Herrell did the same and pulled the trigger.
"I felt like my life was in danger, so I had to shoot back," Herrell said.
Thankfully, no one was hit, but the suspect got away.
Pittsburgh police got called to respond to an armed robbery and the shooting around 3:30 p.m.
They created a perimeter and searched the neighborhood, eventually ending up by Belasco and Coast, where Julianna Stuer and her roommate heard some commotion outside.
"She's like, 'Oh my god!' There's like 10 cops out here with guns and dogs," Stuer said.
They went upstairs until they heard a loud scream and yelp when police caught the suspect. It took officers about an hour before they found the teen behind a house on Belasco. Police said they took him into custody after a K9 bit him.
Bonne Wagner was watching TV with her husband.
"I just heard like a thumping, but I didn't think anything of it," Wagner said.
She suddenly heard a bang on the door from an officer asking if they could investigate her backyard. They told her what happened and that the robbery suspect hid in her shed.
"When we came out, it was open, and it's like, 'yeah,'" Wagner said.
Wagner said she was beyond shocked.
Police said the teen is 17-year-old Marcus Glass. He's facing multiple charges, including aggravated assault, robbery, and recklessly endangering another person.
According to court records, Glass admitted to stealing the tip jar and the shooting. He told investigators that "a friend of his had recently passed away, and he was looking for a way to make money quickly."
"You're going to get caught one way or another, and I just really wish it would have been somebody else's yard, not mine," Wagner said. "I'm just glad that nothing happened to either my husband or I, and I'm really glad my grandchildren weren't here."
Unfortunately, Herrell said this marked the seventh or eighth time someone stole their tip jar. It never ended like this.
Herrell is thankful. Glass is now behind bars and hopes the incident teaches others a lesson.
"Maybe this event could make other people think twice about doing something before they actually do it," Herrell said.
The tip jar was never recovered. Herrell said he believes there was probably $40-50 in it.
Police discovered the gun Glass used behind a house across from where they caught him. They said in the criminal complaint it was stolen from Swissvale in April 2023.
Glass remains in the county jail without bail. He'll be back in court on Feb. 2.