Police: Man Demanded Money From UPMC Mercy Employee, Jumped Into Woman's Car
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police say a man tried to prevent a woman from leaving a local hospital parking garage and even jumped into her car.
Walter Quarrick and his wife come to UPMC Mercy a lot and always park in the hospital's parking garage.
"You get one person sometimes that just does the wrong thing and that's what happens," Quarrick said.
Quarrick is talking about 27-year-old Byron Leverette, of Altoona.
Leverette is accused of approaching a woman as she was trying to leave UPMC Mercy Hospital's parking garage around 11:30 Monday night. He told the woman he was a UPMC employee, however, UPMC officials confirm he is not.
The woman works at the hospital and told police Leverette demanded she give him $5 so he could leave the garage. When she didn't comply, Leverette allegedly took her ID badge out of her hand.
Police say Leverette got into the backseat of the woman's car. The woman backed her car up, jumped out and ran towards another vehicle to ask for help.
She told police Leverette hit her vehicle in rage when she wouldn't cooperate.
Police interviewed a couple of witnesses. One witness tried to get Leverette to come out of the car. That's when the witness says Leverette threatened to cut his neck, then grabbed the victim's duffel bag and struck the witness in the chin.
"I think that's a terrible thing, but I don't think it's a regular thing," Quarrick said.
Quarrick and his wife say they always feel safe there.
"They have the campus security ... and you can see them. It just so happened that he fell right through the cracks and she was there," Leah Quarrick said.
Police eventually arrested Leverette at the Forbes Avenue exit of the garage after holding him at gunpoint.
UPMC released a statement stating: "The safety of our patients, visitors and staff on our campus is always our primary concern. As a matter of protocol involving an active criminal investigation, we cannot comment nay further at this time."
