Morning Roundup: Police say woman attacked 2 people with a snow shovel in South Side Slopes

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Jan. 15:

Police: Woman attacked 2 with snow shovel in South Side Slopes

A Pittsburgh woman is being held without bail after city police said she attacked two people with a snow shovel at home in the South Side Slopes.

Melaye Johnson, 19, of Perry North was arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated assault, burglary, reckless endangerment and related offenses.

Police said Johnson pushed her way into a Mt. Oliver Street home at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and grabbed a snow shovel at the front door. She beat a man and woman with the shovel inside the home and outside until police got there, according to court papers.

Investigators reported seeing bloody cuts on the woman’s hand and the man’s arm. Both had red marks on their head and face.

Johnson claimed the man asked her to come to the home and had a gun when she arrived, according to court papers.

She was being held at the Allegheny County Jail. An attorney was not listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 28.

Chinese national facing deportation over stolen gift cards

A Chinese national is facing deportation after being sentenced Tuesday for stealing Apple gift cards from six Walmart stores in Western Pennsylvania, including the Frazer location.

Zhixiang Chen, 20, of San Gabriel, Calif., pleaded guilty to corrupt organizations and organized retail crime, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Tuesday. He was sentenced to one and a half to three years in a state prison.

Chen is banned from Walmart stores and a judge ordered him to forfeit $16,143 and pay a $25,000 fine.

The charges were filed against him in Lawrence County court. Chen stole the gift cards, altered them and then put the cards back on store shelves, according to the attorney general’s announcement. Once unsuspecting customers loaded the gift cards with cash, he drained the balances.

“This defendant not only committed high-dollar thefts from retail stores, he also victimized consumers who bought the gift cards he had returned to store shelves after altering them for his own profit,” Henry said in the announcement.

Prosecutors did not list the store locations in the announcement. TribLive previously reported Chen was arrested by Frazer police in May after license plate readers alerted authorities to a car that had been linked to 16 other thefts from Walmart stores across six states.

Township police said Chen tried to leave the Pittsburgh Mills Walmart store with 125 Apple gift cards stuffed in his clothing.