Pittsburgh police have issued an arrest warrant for 27-year-old William Hercules, after identifying him as the suspect in a brutal attack that occurred on the city's South Side over two months ago. According to TribLive, the alleged attempted rape and aggravated assault left a woman with a broken back and pelvis after she was shoved to the ground outside her East Carson Street apartment building. The attack took place on August 18th, around 9 p.m., when the woman, who uses a walker, was reportedly pushed by Hercules after she refused to surrender her cellphone.
During the assault, Hercules tried to rape the woman, but was thwarted when the victim activated her medical alert device, prompting him to flee the scene. The woman's screams were muffled as Hercules covered her mouth, until the medical alert dispatcher's voice was heard, reported WTAE. Hercules has been charged with aggravated assault, attempted rape, and four related offenses by police, who know him as a homeless man frequently found intoxicated on the South Side.
Camera footage reviewed by detectives placed Hercules close to the area of the assault at the relevant time. As per the criminal complaint cited by TribLive, footage from a Pennsylvania Regional Transit bus showed Hercules taking a ride in the neighborhood from 9:24 to 9:28 p.m., wearing the same clothing described by the victim. This clothing matched what the victim had described to the police and what Hercules was seen wearing while trying to purchase alcohol earlier that evening at a nearby beer distributor.
The pursuit of Hercules by authorities was impeded by the complexities of life on the streets and the inherent challenges of investigating crimes involving transient populations. Despite initially finding Hercules sitting in Ormsby Park with the same blue-green scrub top next to him just days after the assault, it was not immediately clear that he was regarded as a suspect based on the victim's initial statement to police. It took detectives reviewing surveillance footage and interviews before they were able to connect Hercules conclusively to the crime, leading to the issuance of an arrest warrant this past Monday.
