A Carmichaels man was charged with robbery, theft and assault of a Latrobe woman after being arrested Tuesday by Maryland State Police.
Heath Allen Rankin, 41, is accused of robbing a woman in an elevator and stealing her car. He was arrested after being accused of stealing another car in Morgantown and fleeing from a traffic stop. He is awaiting extradition to Westmoreland County.
Rankin was identified by police based on security footage in which a man grabbed a woman’s neck in an elevator at an apartment building.
According to the footage, the woman was returning from the grocery store when she entered the elevator followed by a white man, believed to be Rankin, whom she did not know.
Police said the man wrapped his arms around her neck and took a set of car keys from her purse, along with $4 in cash. He told her not to look at him or he would “blow (her) head off,” then gave her the money back, and replaced the car keys with another set of car keys when they reached the third floor, she told investigators.
The car keys placed in her purse were for a Jeep, and not the woman’s white Honda Accord. The car was stolen from the parking lot. The Jeep keys belonged to a vehicle that Rankin is accused of taking from a friend in the Uniontown area, and the friend was able to identify Rankin.
Police said Rankin told the woman he was a detective, and to be more aware of her surroundings and to not call the police. The woman described him as wearing blue jeans and a yellow jacket.
