Ron Donofrio was chatting with a friend outside Lambros Lounge in Troy Hill when a silver sport-utility vehicle rocketed past through rush-hour northbound traffic on Route 28, a horde of police cars following.

Minutes later, the caravan came back, this time heading south on the busy highway before pulling onto the 31st Street Bridge, where police swarmed around the SUV and into its path to cut it off. Only then did they arrest a pair of suspected bank robbers who'd led them on a wild, 20-mile chase that began in Banksville, zigzagged through the South Hills, North Side and several northern suburbs before winding back toward Downtown and onto the bridge.

Police arrested John McCleavy, 36, of Pittsburgh and Meghan Jaeger, 21, of Ohio. Mr. McCleavy was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, recklessly endangering, fleeing and eluding, receiving stolen property, and two counts of hit-and-run, said Chief Nathan Harper at a news conference last night. He will also face federal bank robbery charges.

Ms. Jaeger was charged with conspiracy.

"It was unbelievable. There had to be 20 police vehicles after him as he went onto the bridge," said Mr. Donofrio, 40, a consultant from Scott. "I'll tell you what -- you don't see that every day in Pittsburgh."

The chase began with a report of a holdup at 5:53 p.m. at the National City Bank in the Banksville Plaza Shopping Center, a strip mall on Banksville Road near the city boundary with Dormont. A bank employee who would not give her name said a man entered the bank just before closing time and demanded money.

The man, who disguised his face with a ski mask and wore gloves, did not show a weapon. When a teller opened a cash drawer, the man jumped onto the counter, reached into the drawer and stuffed money into a bag, the employee said.

National City spokesman William Eiler said the robber resembled the man who also tried to get into the bank shortly before it closed Wednesday but was barred when an employee shut and locked the front door.

The robber drove away in a silver Saturn Vue (a small SUV), speeding north on Banksville Road toward the Parkway West and inbound Fort Pitt Tunnels. Mt. Lebanon and Dormont police pursued him.

Alerted by witnesses, police pursued the vehicle onto Route 51, through the hilltop neighborhoods of Beltzhoover and Mount Washington and back down onto Route 51.

The chase continued around the West End Circle, where the SUV struck another car but caused no injuries, Pittsburgh police Lt. Dan Herrmann said. The Vue crossed the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges, then headed north onto Route 28.

"I was talking to a friend when it caught my eye," said Mr. Donofrio, who was standing outside when the SUV passed with police following and more closing from a distance.

The SUV pulled off the highway in Sharpsburg and whizzed down Main Street before returning to Route 28 and heading back south toward Pittsburgh at times hitting speeds of 75 mph, according to police radio traffic.

Television news helicopters hovered overhead, broadcasting much of the chase live on evening news reports. State police and suburban departments, including Sharpsburg, Millvale, Etna, Aspinwall and Shaler, joined city police in the pursuit, Chief Harper said.

A police car pulled into the suspect's path in an attempt to cut him off, but the vehicles collided and the police car tipped over, Mr. Donofrio said. Lt. Timothy O'Connor, who was driving the police car, injured his left arm but rejoined the chase and later was treated at Allegheny General Hospital.

Four officers on foot, with guns drawn, seemed to have the vehicle cornered, but it plowed ahead, driving straight at the officers, who jumped aside.

"The officers showed a lot of restraint by not firing any shots" at that point, said the chief.

Police also threw spikes onto the pavement twice, Chief Harper said.

All four tires were flat by the time the chase turned onto the 31st Street Bridge. There, a police truck was able to cut in front of the SUV and block it in.

Officers pulled out the driver, with at least seven of them wrestling him onto the ground. One officer kicked at the suspect, and at least one other appeared to strike at him with a baton, and several officers surrounded him and struck him repeatedly. Police also stunned him with a Taser. Chief Harper did not know the department of the officer who Tased him.

"The suspect was still very combative when they got him out of the vehicle," said Chief Harper. He said he would review the videotapes of the incident.

"Any time you get too many hands in there, it's not a good situation," he said. In justifying the initial pursuit, the chief said, "It was a felony stop. He had just robbed a bank."

He confirmed that stolen money was found with the suspects on the bridge, but did not know the amount. The suspects were not armed, but pursuing police did not know that, he said. The license plate on the vehicle had been stolen from a different car on Banksville Road Thursday night, he said.

Mr. McCleavy was taken to AGH to be examined. Chief Harper expected him to be questioned and taken to jail overnight.

Mr. McCleavy, who also goes by the name John McAleavey, has a lengthy criminal record dating back to at least 1991.

He was sentenced to serve five to 10 years in state prison in 1996 for aggravated assault, and he previously was convicted of promoting prostitution, stemming from an arrest on Feb. 25, 1995.

It appears from state court records that Mr. McCleavy currently has charges of simple assault, terroristic threats and stalking pending from Feb. 7, 2007.

Ms. Jaeger, of Boardman, Ohio, was arrested by Green Tree Police Department and charged with drug possession and prostitution, stemming from an incident on May 31.

"This actor had total disregard for human life."