Oct 10, 2018 3 min read

A Charleroi man is wanted in Washington and Westmoreland counties in separate cases last weekend that involved robbery, aggravated assault and related charges.

Rostraver Township police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of Jacob Michael Swanson, 21, over accusations he robbed a Get Go on Route 51 Sunday of cigarettes and caused more than $5,000 in damages to the business, court records show.

State police also want Swanson on allegations he used his car to ram a vehicle five times in Fallowfield Township while it was being driven Friday by the friend of his ex-girlfriend, both of whom were injured in the incident, separate court records indicate.

In the Fallowfield case, troopers were sent about 10:30 p.m. to Diddlebug’s Pizza & Hoagies, 1629 Route 481, where they were met by victim Jesus Fernando Munoz.

Munoz told police Swanson drove his car twice into the back of his pickup truck while he and passenger Jaimyn Grace Rauchfuss were traveling on Redds Mill Road. Munoz said he pulled into the pizza shop’s parking lot, where his truck was struck from behind three more times by the suspect’s car.

Swanson also is accused of using a closed fist to punch out the driver’s side window of the truck and then assaulting Munoz. He said Swanson was upset because he and Rauchfuss had been communicating with each other.

Rauchfuss told police she injured her head when the truck was hit and hurt her thumb while trying to break up the fight between the two men. She also said Swanson punched her in the ribs and she would seek a medical evaluation of her injuries, court records show.

Swanson was no longer at the scene, police stated in the affidavit.

In the Rostraver case, store clerks said Swanson went into a rage when he was denied the purchase of cigarettes because he did not have identification on him, the records show.

Police were sent there about 1:45 a.m. to investigate a report a man “was destroying the business,” the record states.

Swanson had already fled by the time the officers arrived at the business on Route 51 near Interstate 70, and they found two clerks who had locked themselves in a back room.

The cash register, lottery machine, a food heating station and several displays were turned over on the floor. Items were scattered throughout the store, the affidavit indicates.

Police said Swanson, who has addresses in Charleroi and neighboring North Charleroi, stole three packs of cigarettes and lighters before leaving the store.

He was last seen by the clerks on nearby Finley Road near a hotel, where he stopped in the lobby to call a relative, police said.

Police spoke to the relative and used social media and other methods to identify Swanson as the suspect.

He also faces charges of reckless endangerment, retail theft, criminal mischief, simple assault and harassment.