Suspect Slips Cuffs at Pa. State Police Station, Found in Stolen Truck

An Allegheny County woman arrested in a robbery at a Hempfield store Saturday is accused of slipping out of handcuffs at the state police station and stealing a pickup truck before being stopped on Route 22 in Murrysville, according to court papers.

Kristy R. Zalac, 33, of Liberty, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail.

Troopers first arrested her Saturday around 2 p.m. at the Home Depot on Route 30 on robbery, retail theft, simple assault and related offenses. Court papers detailing the robbery were not available Monday.

Zalac was taken to the state police station in Hempfield on North Westmoreland Avenue, just outside of Greensburg, for processing while troopers prepared charges in the robbery case. Authorities said her legs were shackled together and her right wrist was handcuffed to a bench.

She slipped out of the handcuff and was seen on surveillance video walking out a door at the station, according to court papers. Around 5 p.m. police learned a Ford F-250 had been stolen from a Hempfield residence on New Alexandria Road near Lynch Field.

About an hour later, Zalac was spotted driving the pickup on Route 22 in Murrysville. She admitted to troopers that she removed the handcuff and left the station, according to court papers.

Zalac is charged in a second case with theft, receiving stolen property, evading arrest and escape. She did not have an attorney listed in online court records. Preliminary hearings are set for later this month.

Zalac is facing retail theft and defiant trespasser charges filed by West Mifflin police for an incident Dec. 6, according to online court records. A certified summons in that case was received Friday. Her criminal history in Allegheny County dates back to 2018.

___

(c)2022 Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)

Visit Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.