Pittsburgh man charged with attempted rape on walking trail near Station Square

Pittsburgh Police and the U.S. Marshall’s Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force have arrested a man who allegedly assaulted a woman on a Pittsburgh walking trail.

Robert Lynn Williamson Jr., 62, of Pittsburgh is charged with attempted rape and related crimes.

The unidentified woman told police that she’d been walking on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Station Square on Thursday when Williamson ran up behind her and held a knife to her neck, according to his arrest papers.

Williamson allegedly told the woman to keep walking and not say anything.

He threatened to sexually assault her and grabbed her breasts, police said. When they got near Highmark Stadium he allegedly threw her down, climbed on top of her and bit her.

During the struggle the woman was able to grab the knife. She threw it away, punched her attacker and fled, police said.

She ran to the stadium where staff called 911.

The woman didn’t know who her attacker was, but described him to police as a white man at least 60 years old, with a long white beard.

The next day, investigators spotted Williamson, who matched the woman’s description, at Riverfront Park. They briefly questioned him, then released him, according to his arrest papers.

Investigators later watched security footage from Station Sqaure allegedly showing Williamson following the woman, grabbing her around the neck and escorting her down the trail.

Williamson has been previously convicted of attempted homicide, attempted rape and related charges, police said.

Investigators found Williamson again near the corner of East Carson Street and Ninth Street and arrested him.

In addition to rape, he is charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, indecent assault and possessing instruments of crime.

Williamson is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh on $75,000 cash bail. He was arraigned Saturday before District Judge Jesse J. Cramer.

A preliminary hearing before Judge Kim Berkeley Clark is schedule for June 18.