Victims attack would-be robber

Would-be robbers got more than they bargained for when they followed two men to their Wilkinsburg apartment and tried to rob them.

One suspect escaped and another, Darrell James, 25, was attacked by the people police said he was trying to rob.

James was treated and released at a Pittsburgh hospital then taken to the Allegheny County Jail after the incident Thursday night.

James is charged with robbery, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and reckless endangerment.

Police arrived on the scene at 8:30 p.m. Thursday to find two men holding James down on the hood of a car in the 800 block of Wood Street. All three men were screaming and covered in blood, according to Wilkinsburg police Sgt. James Carraway.

James claimed he was being robbed, and the others' Morrocan accents made it difficult for officer Carraway to understand them, according to police reports.

Carraway handcuffed all three and took them to the station.

An investigation revealed that James and an unidentified man allegedly followed two people to their apartment at 813 Wood St., police said. Police declined to identify the victims.

One of the victims returned to a nearby store to retrieve some keys, while the other man continued home where a third man was sleeping.

The two answered a knock at the door, and James and the other suspect burst into the apartment, tied up the two men with their own shoelaces and got a butcher knife from the kitchen.

When the first victim returned home, he initially cooperated but then attacked James, according to reports.

All three victims suffered defensive knife wounds during the struggle, which moved outside, where two of the victims pinned James on the car hood.

The unidentified robber fled and James was detained until police arrived.

James received stitches and was arraigned in Night Court.

Brandon Keat can be reached at bkeat@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8546.