Downtown panhandler arrested for trying to throw woman onto Parkway East, police say

A Downtown panhandler tried to throw a woman off a bridge over the Parkway East on Wednesday night, police said.

A criminal complaint filed against Jonathan Boyle, 42, said he was panhandling near Fort Pitt Boulevard and Smithfield Street around 7:40 p.m. when he attacked the woman and tried to throw her over a wall onto the Parkway East below.

The woman told police that she does not know Boyle.

Police said the drop from Fort Pitt Boulevard to the highway below was about 30 to 40 feet, and there was “steady traffic flow” at the time of the attack. The drop likely would have resulted in “severe bodily injury or death,” police said.

Boyle told responding officers that he didn’t do anything to the woman. Police said Boyle “was highly intoxicated and was slurring his speech.”

Police said the woman’s dog bit Boyle when he attacked her, but he declined medical attention.

Boyle faces charges of aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct, harassment and public drunkenness, court records show. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail after being denied bail at his arraignment Thursday morning. District Judge James A. Motznik deemed him a threat to the community.