Authorities arrest Pittsburgh fugitive accused of mocking police online for not being able to catch him
A Pittsburgh man accused of taunting authorities while on the run for the past 45 days was arrested late Monday morning, according to Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus.
Kwaun Elliot, 24, was deemed a fugitive March 14 after authorities said he used a fourth-floor fire escape window to flee Renewal Center 1 on Pittsburgh’s Boulevard of the Allies. Renewal Inc., which runs the center, is a Pittsburgh-based community corrections organization.
While on the run, Kraus said, Elliot used a Facebook page under another name to taunt authorities for not being able to catch him. Elliot also had active warrants for probation violations on cases involving firearms charges.
Kraus said detectives from the Sheriff’s Office discovered early Monday that Elliot was staying at a Marriott hotel in Uptown. Detectives arrived at the hotel just before noon and arrested Elliot without incident.
Elliot was being held in Allegheny County Jail on $5,000 bond, awaiting a nonjury trial on the firearms charges, according to online court records.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.