Greensburg teen escapes after alleged assault by man she met on social media

Investigators believe a Philadelphia man was intending to traffic a 13-year-old Greensburg girl when he paid for an Uber to drive her 280 miles across the state, where, police said, he sexually assaulted her.

The girl managed to escape, and police on Thursday arrested Angel Lopez, 19, on 14 felonies including kidnapping, trafficking and sexual assault, among other offenses. Lopez was denied bond during his arraignment by video, and he was being transported Thursday from Philadelphia to the Westmoreland County Prison.

Police believe Lopez and the girl communicated for four days through social media.

“If this can happen in Greensburg, it can happen anywhere,” said Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli. “We believe this victim was targeted through social media apps, like TikTok. It was through their investigative efforts that the Greensburg police discovered another app, called Wizz, that raises concerns about the safety parameters surrounding children and their online activity.”

Greensburg police were notified about 6:45 a.m. March 14 by the girl’s mother that she was missing and had left a note indicating she ran away, according to court papers. They couldn’t reach her by cellphone, but a ping indicated she was near Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia, about 280 miles away. Greensburg Detective Sgt. Justin Scalzo said Philadelphia police picked the girl up, and her mother drove across the state to get her later on March 14.

Investigators began to unravel the girl’s actions throughout the night and in the days prior, learning she had been communicating with Lopez through social media apps and eventually by phone. Scalzo has 1,862 pages worth of text messages from just one day of communication between the pair.

“On March 10, the conversation started; on March 14, the victim was in Philadelphia,” Ziccarelli said. “That is frightening to me.”

That conversation included sexually explicit messages and graphic videos, as well as Lopez suggesting they move to a different state together in a couple months, police said. Lopez is accused of booking an Uber to pick the girl up in Greensburg and drive her four and a half hours to his address at Regency Village Apartments in Philadelphia.

That Uber trip would cost about $462.

The girl told investigators Lopez almost immediately began sexually assaulting her once she arrived. She became fearful for her safety and pulled out strands of her hair, leaving them in various areas of the apartment to provide DNA evidence for police if something happened to her.

Police said she saw an opportunity to escape when she heard someone outside the apartment and fled, hoping they’d call 911 if Lopez pursued her. Members of the state Attorney General’s Office Child Predator Unit got surveillance footage from the apartment building that showed the girl there, according to court papers.

Officers in Greensburg also worked with state and Philadelphia police and Westmoreland County detectives. A search warrant was served Thursday morning at his apartment, and Lopez was taken into custody.

He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. An April 10 preliminary hearing is set.

Ziccarelli encouraged parents to be vigilant in monitoring electronic devices used by their children.

“I am pleading with fellow parents in Westmoreland County and beyond, today, when your children get off of their buses, take a look at all of their electronic devices,” she said. “Look at the apps they have downloaded and … get ready to have difficult conversations with them about their safety and the consequences of those applications on their devices.”