A man accused in a carjacking in Donegal Township on Friday afternoon was found in Youngwood in the stolen SUV where state police said they apprehended him after a short chase, according to court papers.
Troopers said they used the OnStar system in the Chevrolet Equinox to track it down in Youngwood with Michael K. Lang, 43, of Whitehall, behind the wheel.
He was arraigned Friday night on multiple counts of robbery and additional charges, among them fleeing from police, theft and simple assault.
Troopers were called to a Dollar General store on Route 711 in Donegal Township around 1:30 p.m. Friday for an attempted robbery.
A woman told police a man grabbed her purse and ran out into the parking lot. She chased him and the two wrestled over the purse until she was pushed to the ground.
The man took off without the purse when a store customer yelled at him, she told investigators.
Video surveillance showed a man wearing dark clothing and brown-and-white sneakers grab the purse, according to court papers.
A half-mile away, another woman reported a man got into her Chevrolet Equinox while she sat in the parking lot of the Stahlstown Post Office and requested a ride.
She eventually pulled over a half-mile away on Riggs Lane, where the woman said she was pushed out of her SUV and the man drove off, according to court papers.
Police located the SUV 23 miles away on Locust Street in Youngwood. There was a short pursuit, troopers said, and the driver, later identified as Lang, was arrested. He was wearing the same clothing that was seen in the Dollar General surveillance video, according to court papers.
He was denied bail and was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison.
Lang didn’t have an attorney listed in online court records.
A preliminary hearing is set for March 6.
