Woman shares her story after being attacked downtown

By Raquel Ciampi, Sheldon Ingram

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A woman has been arrested after authorities say she punched and kicked another person walking down a street in downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh police were called to a reported fight on Wednesday around 3:11 p.m. in the 600 block of Smithfield Street.

Authorities were able to get in contact with the victim, who told them she was walking toward Sixth Avenue when she was randomly punched in the back of the head.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim stated she ignored the woman who punched her and kept walking.

Sofia Mancing said she was dragged, kicked and punched.

“She caught up to me and grabbed me by the hair, and threw me into the street and started punching and kicking me in the face and the back of the head,” Mancing told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.

Police say that the woman, later identified by authorities as Shurontaya Festa, allegedly began to punch and kick her in the face. When she was finished, she allegedly walked toward Liberty Avenue.

When asked if anyone tried to help, Mancing said, “No, actually. Smithfield is a busy street, and there were people everywhere. There were people standing not, like, 20 feet away from me, and they were just watching.”

Authorities found Festa after a witness gave a description of the woman who hit the victim. The criminal complaint states Festa told officers she was involved in a fight and believed the victim had been stalking her.

The report from the police notes: “(The victim) is not local and started her new job downtown (2) days ago so she would have no prior interactions with Festa.”

Authorities say they were able to view a video that showed Festa pushing the victim to the ground and dragging her into the street, then continuing to punch and kick her.

The criminal document states: “It was clear (Festa’s) intent was to cause severe injuries to (the victim.)”

The complaint then states the victim at no point in the video hit Festa or appeared to have started the attack.

Festa faces a charge of aggravated assault.

Mancing said she was headed toward a bus stop after her work shift at an internship when the attack happened. She said she suffered a concussion and a broken nose.

“I hope that people have a little more awareness of the safety concerns in that area. … I don’t know how comfortable I’m going to be walking around in downtown. I definitely don’t want to be visiting Smithfield any time soon,” she said.

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