PITTSBURGH — Multiple witnesses reported seeing a man running along busy Route 51 in the Bon Air neighborhood early Friday morning. Drivers noted that the road was dark, but as they approached, they could see him waving his arms and running directly toward oncoming traffic.
According to police, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made just before 3 a.m. One of the callers, James Geramita, spoke with us but preferred not to show his face on camera.
“He was stumbling, and he looked disoriented,” Geramita said. “It looked like something was wrong with him. My first thought was that maybe he was having a heart attack or something at the wheel and wanted people to help him. I even told the 911 operator that I was calling just to make sure he didn’t get hit.”
Channel 11 was at the Red, White, and Blue Thrift Store on Route 51 overnight as the incident unfolded. Our cameras captured a car on a flatbed truck in the thrift store’s parking lot.
The man was later identified as James Richard Brown Jr., 29, of Pittsburgh. Police confirmed that he jumped out of his own car while it was still in motion, causing it to crash into the side of the thrift store.
Witnesses reported Brown then attempted to get into the bed of a pickup truck at the intersection of Bausman Street and Saw Mill Run Boulevard. The driver did not stop and called the police. Brown fell, resulting in him being dragged underneath the truck for several feet.
Geramita, the witness, noted that Brown appeared to be wearing only a t-shirt.
“It looked like his pants were around his ankles from what I could see,” Geramita added.
Geramita described the situation as “weird.”
When officers arrived, they stated that the man rushed toward their police car and did not comply with their commands.
Brown was taken into custody.
At the time of his arrest, officers reported Brown had road rash, bruises on his body, and a head injury. Paramedics treated him at the scene, but he went into cardiac arrest and later died at the hospital.
The exact cause of death has not yet been determined.
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