SWAT, U.S. Marshals arrest South Side homicide suspect
A SWAT team and U.S. marshals on Tuesday arrested a Penn Hills man who had been on the lam in connection with a fatal shooting last month in Pittsburgh’s South Side entertainment district.
Video footage showed Moniem Strothers, 26, shoot Steven Robertson, 33, once in the neck in the 1200 block of East Carson Street on Oct 12, police said.
Robertson had walked up to a white Chrysler parked near Twelve Whiskey BBQ, a bar, between 12th and 13th streets around 10:05 p.m., the complaint said.
Strothers, who video showed leaving a bar minutes earlier, sat in the driver’s seat. He appeared to be alone.
Video footage showed Robertson swing his right arm, open-handed, at Strothers, police said. The gunman then shot Robertson once and sped away, according to the complaint.
Paramedics rushed Robertson to UPMC Mercy hospital in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. He died there about 30 minutes later.
Police were patrolling nearby when the shooting occurred, the complaint said. They were so close that video footage showed officers in the background reacting to the gunshot.
One officer spotted the Chrysler’s license plate as the vehicle darted into the opposing lane of traffic on East Carson Street to flee, the complaint said.
That officer and another who recognized Strothers from previous encounters in Hazelwood both identified him as the gunman, according to the complaint.
Police said a license plate reader recorded the car at East Carson and 16th streets. They found the vehicle, empty, the next morning in front of a Swissvale home.
The ShotSpotter gunshot detection section did not alert police about the shooting, the complaint said. Officers contacted the California-based company, where a staffer said the gunshot “was missed” at 10:08 p.m.
Police did not elaborate.
Police charged Strothers Oct. 15 with homicide and two firearms counts.
Pittsburgh police said detectives, the city ‘s SWAT team and Swissvale police worked with the U.S. Marshals Services to arrest Strothers Monday in Swissvale. He was taken into custody without incident.
Strothers was arraigned at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, court records show. A judge denied him bail.
Strothers’ attorney was not listed Tuesday in 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.
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