Police charged a Pittsburgh man with a sexual assault on March 3 in Oakland, which prompted increased foot patrols near the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Javonne Taylor Thompson, 35, of Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, was arrested by Pittsburgh police on Thursday on 10 charges, including attempted rape, sexual assault, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, robbery, and tampering with evidence, with five of them being felonies.
Police stated that Thompson was already in custody at the Allegheny County Jail for unrelated charges. His attorney's information was not available in court records.
According to Thompson’s arrest papers, an unidentified woman alighted from a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus on North Craig Street at Centre Avenue intersection shortly before 2 a.m. on March 3.
Police reported that Thompson approached the woman near 250 Melwood Ave., running up from behind and grabbing her while claiming he had a gun.
The woman informed the police that she did not resist because Thompson was holding a knife.
According to the complaint, Thompson repeatedly threatened to kill the woman.
Following Thompson's directive to turn off her cellphone, he sexually assaulted her and physically attacked her by punching her in the left eye, as mentioned in the complaint.
After the assault, Thompson fled on foot down Centre Avenue, discarding a “folding knife” and the woman’s cellphone into a nearby sewer.
According to the police, DNA samples later linked Thompson to the crime.
Initially, Thompson denied the sexual assault allegation, but later admitted to it and refused to provide a statement about the assault to the police.
Court records indicate that Thompson previously pled guilty to drug possession charges in 2020, and was sentenced to up to 30 months in October 2021 by Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos.
Online criminal records available on Friday did not show any other active charges against Thompson in Allegheny County.
According to court records, a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order was issued against Thompson on Nov. 2, 2020. The order, involving a woman and a juvenile, was set to expire last November.
Thompson violated the PFA order on Oct. 4, and a judge extended the protection order until Oct. 4, 2026.
