A homeless woman is charged with aggravated assault after police said she attacked a woman in Downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon, breaking her nose.

Shurontaya Festa, 27, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday.

According to the criminal complaint, Festa walked up behind a woman in the 600 block of Smithfield Street just after 3 p.m. Wednesday and struck her in the back of the head.

The woman, Sofia Mancing, told police the attacker then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the middle of the street, punching and kicking her.

Using the description provided by Mancing, officers found Festa a short time later about four blocks away.

Festa told police she had been involved in a fight on Smithfield Street and that she believed Mancing had been stalking her.

However, surveillance cameras on the street captured the incident and show Festa attacking Mancing, police wrote in the criminal complaint.

According to the video, the incident began with Festa striking the young woman in the back of the head. She then can be seen dragging Mancing into the road by her hair three or four feet.

“Once in the street, you can see Festa continuously kicking and punching Mancing in the face/body,” the officer wrote.

The officer counted five “punt-style kicks” and 10 punches thrown by Festa.

According to the complaint, Mancing would have sustained severe injuries if she did not defend herself.

Mancing, who spoke to TribLive news partner WTAE about the attack, said she sustained a concussion and broken nose.

Despite the brutal nature of the attack, Mancing, who had just started working Downtown two days earlier, said no one came to her aid.

“Smithfield is a busy street, and there were people everywhere,” she said. “I hope people have a little bit more awareness of the safety concerns in that area.”

Cara Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh police, said the Department of Public Safety takes all incidents like this one seriously, no matter the time of day or location.

“The Downtown Public Safety Center officers remain vigilant and officers from the Violence Prevention Unit help patrol the Downtown area, as well,” Cruz said. “In addition, social workers from the city’s Office of Community Health and Safety work directly with officers Downtown on a daily basis to assist with individuals who experience mental health or substance abuse problems that can sometimes lead to crime.”

In February, Pittsburgh police opened a new substation on Wood Street to help better control crime in the city’s central business district.

The substation opened with about 20 officers and supervisors based there.

In recent years, city officials have fielded a slew of complaints from business owners and others complaining about crime Downtown.

Last month, Wiener World, which had a shop on Smithfield Street since 1965, closed its doors to relocate to the U.S. Steel Tower.

Owner Denny Scott of Wilkins said he moved because of a decline in safety in the area, including drug use and public urination.

“My customers don’t want to come down here,” he told TribLive.

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