A Troy Hill man ran across the frozen Allegheny River while trying to elude police after a convenience store burglary early Sunday, authorities said.

William McManus, 25, was a suspect in a smash-and-grab burglary at the 9th & Penn News and Numbers convenience store, Downtown, about 12:30 a.m., said Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler.

McManus was fleeing along the Downtown side of the Allegheny River walk when he slid down the bank onto the ice, then ran along the frozen river toward the Veterans Bridge and the North Shore, where he was picked up by police as he tried to climb the bank near River Road, Toler said.

Officials said the Allegheny has been covered by ice for most of the week, but the thickness and safety of the ice cannot be predicted.

“Since the river is constantly moving, chances are that parts aren't as thick as others,” said Mark Tomassi, paramedic diver with River Rescue. “You never know if you're just going to fall through or not. ... I certainly wouldn't do it.”

According to charging documents, witnesses said three men came to them at the convenience store claiming to have an aunt slumped over the wheel of a car in the parking garage above.

One of the men, later identified as McManus, stayed behind while the witnesses went upstairs with the other two men.

One witness became suspicious and doubled back to the store, where he said he saw McManus had broken a window in the door and was climbing back out as he stuffed scratch-off lottery tickets into his coat before fleeing toward Fort Duquesne Boulevard. The other two men fled.

Police later found a man fitting McManus' description running along the Downtown side of the Allegheny River walk toward the Strip District. He tried to go toward 11th Street but doubled back onto the ice before he was caught.

The witnesses from the store said someone fitting McManus' description had stolen lottery tickets from the same shop about a week earlier.

Police recovered several scratch-off tickets and a screwdriver from McManus' coat, and the witnesses said he appeared to have left a small sledgehammer inside the store.

In addition to possessing instruments of a crime, burglary and escape, McManus was charged with fraud, receiving stolen property and attempted theft for a incident earlier in February, where court documents said he attempted to write himself a check for $3,200 that he had stolen from a home in Millvale.

He remained in the Allegheny County Jail on Sunday afternoon.

Matthew Santoni is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-5625 or msantoni@tribweb.com.

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