Man on probation stole wallet from rape case witness inside County Courthouse

Charlie Dwyer

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office announces the arrest of Aaron Hicks, 28 years of age from McKees Rocks. 
 
Yesterday afternoon around 4:30PM, Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the District Attorney’s Witness Room on the fourth floor of the Allegheny County Courthouse regarding an alleged theft. The victim, a witness in an ongoing rape trial, stated that her wallet was stolen from her purse between the time she left her purse and when she returned from the courtroom at the conclusion of a trial. The victim believed that two credit cards, a debit card, and approximately $140.00 were missing from her purse.
 
While investigating the incident, Sheriff’s Deputies were able to make contact with an Allegheny County maintenance worker that claimed he had seen a man in the same area as the victim’s purse and this person had been rummaging through bags. The man left soon thereafter, about 4:00 PM. 
 
After finding this information regarding a potential suspect, Sheriff’s Deputies obtained surveillance footage which provided them with an image of the man that the maintenance worker described, a 6’ 0” tall black male wearing a black Rick and Morty hoodie with a tan beanie.  The man was viewed in the courthouse heading in the direction of the Fourth Floor, where the theft occurred. In the video, Deputies were able to view the man looking through bags left on a table, leave and return to the bags a short time later.
 
Sheriff’s Deputies spoke with a court clerk who was able to positively identify the man in question as Aaron James Hicks, who had been in their office earlier in the afternoon. Deputies then filed charges on Hicks regarding the theft, including receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking, theft of property, lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake, and criminal attempt (2).
 
Around 10:30 PM on Tuesday night, a Stowe Township Police Officer viewed Hicks and a friend walking on Broadway Avenue. The officer immediately took Hicks into custody without incident due to his active arrest warrant from the theft earlier in the day. Sheriff’s Deputies transported Hicks to the Allegheny County Jail where he awaited arraignment on the arrest warrant. 
 
Hicks told Sheriff’s Deputies that the belongings they were looking for could be found in a room at a residence he was staying at in the 700 block of Dohrman Street in McKees Rocks. Deputies arrived at the address and were given consent to search the room, where they were able to retrieve the woman’s wallet, along with her credit and debit cards. The items were returned to the victim today.
 
Prior to his arrest, Hicks was on probation for three convictions from 2012 and two from 2016. Additionally, Hicks had four pending cases ongoing with the Court of Common Pleas, this was the reason he was in the courthouse yesterday afternoon.  Due to yesterday’s incident, Hicks’ bond was revoked on all cases.

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