Ross police on Tuesday charged a Penn Hills man with robbing and beating a 77-year-old McCandless woman outside the Toys "R" Us store in Ross on Halloween night after he picked her up from a Downtown bus station by pretending he was a jitney driver.

Lamonte Oliver Lewis, 46, of MacFarlane Drive, who has a lengthy criminal record, was being held in the Allegheny County Jail on charges of robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping.

Mr. Lewis was already in jail after Pittsburgh police charged him with accosting a man outside a Shadyside bar two days after the Halloween attack.

Ross detectives said they were able to track down Mr. Lewis because the elderly female victim, who is not being identified by the Post-Gazette, had unusual presence of mind.

After being beaten and dumped onto the pavement outside the toy store, she was able to remember the last four digits of the suspect's license plate as he sped away.

She later picked him out of a photo lineup, according to an affidavit.

The woman was waiting for an Access van at the Greyhound bus station at about 7:45 p.m. Oct. 31 after arriving in Pittsburgh from New Jersey, where she had been visiting.

According to the affidavit, Mr. Lewis drove up in a white Pontiac, identified himself as "Dante" and offered her a ride. To gain her confidence, he showed her a UPMC identification card and said he used to work for Manor Care, a nursing home.

When the Access van didn't show up by 8:05 p.m., she accepted a ride and agreed to pay $20 for gas when he stopped at a gas station.

During the ride from the gas station to Ross, the woman said Mr. Lewis began making comments that made her feel uncomfortable, including raising the price of the ride to $30 and making a reference to having sex with a younger man.

She said she would pay him the extra $10 when he dropped her off, but she got scared when he pulled off McKnight Road and into the Toys R Us lot on Cheryl Drive.

She tried to escape, but he had locked the doors.

He demanded her purse and tried to grab it from her, saying he would "really hurt her" if she didn't give it up, the affidavit said.

He punched her in the face until she released her grip on the bag. He then unlocked the door and shoved her out onto the pavement, where she hit her head.

She was lying on the ground as he sped off, but "despite her injuries, she stated she was able to get the last four digits of the registration and she is positive they are 0336," according to the affidavit.

The suspect drove away with the woman's purse, house keys and car keys, luggage, prescription medication, jewelry and $300 in cash.

"He took everything," said Detective Benjamin Dripps. "He even ripped the ring from her finger."

Ross detectives entered the partial license number into their computer and found two matches, one for Mr. Lewis and one for a woman. The one for Mr. Lewis showed his car had been involved in a careless driving incident on McKnight Road in September.

Surveillance footage from the bus station and the gas station corroborated the victim's account. In checking Mr. Lewis's criminal history, detectives found he'd been arrested by city police on Friday.

In that incident, according to another affidavit, Mark DePasquale had parked his car at Walnut and South Aiken and was walking to Cappy's bar when a man approached him and demanded $10 for "parking in his lot."

Mr. DePasquale kept walking and was about to enter the bar when he said the suspect ran up to him, took a "fighting stance." Mr. DePasquale ran into the bar and yelled for patrons to call 911.

Pittsburgh police quickly caught up with the suspect on South Aiken and arrested him.