Plum man arrested, charged with assaulting zTrip driver

A Plum man has been arrested and police are seeking two additional suspects after authorities said the trio assaulted a driver with ride-booking service zTrip early Sunday and stole her car.

Wayne K. Griffin Jr., 18, of Plum, was charged with motor vehicle robbery, criminal conspiracy, simple assault and receiving stolen property.

Police were called to William Penn Highway and Rodi Road around 6:50 a.m. Sunday for a report of a carjacking.

They said they arrived to find the victim, a driver with the zTrip car service, who said she had been transporting three men who’d booked a trip to Sheetz.

While waiting at a red light, the woman said the three men in the backseat began to punch her in the face and pull her hair, according to court records. Police said a recording from inside the car shows only one of the three men assaulting the driver.

Police said the woman had a laceration on her lip, but refused EMS treatment. In the report, she told police that two of the men in the backseat left on foot along Rodi Road, and the third man had gotten into the front seat and taken the car, heading toward Interstate 376 westbound.

Churchill police found the two men on foot, who were taken into custody without incident, according to a criminal complaint. One of the men, Griffin, was identified by the victim as one of her attackers. Police said the other man, a juvenile, did not appear to be involved and was released to his mother’s custody.

Griffin told police he struck the driver “two or three times,” according to court documents, and that his friend had taken the car. He told police his original plan had simply been to go to Sheetz for something to eat, but while in the car, “he received signals from another male in the vehicle to begin assaulting the driver,” according to court documents.

Griffin was taken to the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 18 in Judge Randy Martini’s Elliott court.