Pittsburgh man charged in brutal Franklintown rape

THE SCENE was chilling: A woman stepped off a parking-garage elevator alone, and almost immediately felt a man's hand clamp down over her mouth.

He told her he wanted money, police said, but then choked her unconscious.

She awoke on the ground, between two parked cars, with the man on top of her, barking orders to remove her iPhone battery.

Then came a barrage of fists to her head, more choking, and then the rape.

Amazingly, the 33-year-old woman survived the horrifying assault that unfolded about 10:30 a.m. Thursday on the second floor of a parking garage on Callowhill Street near 17th, a stone's throw from the Community College of Philadelphia in Franklintown.

She managed to break free and run toward a motorist in the garage, police said. That man briefly chased the fiend before calling 9-1-1.

The alleged attacker, Steven Woodson, was officially arrested and charged yesterday with rape, attempted murder, aggravated assault, indecent assault and related offenses.

Woodson, 32, was arrested around the corner from the garage by some quick-acting patrol cops, about 20 minutes after the assault.

According to court records, Woodson, who lives in Pittsburgh, was wanted on a bench warrant in Allegheny County, where he was arrested in May on charges of indecent exposure, open lewdness and harassment.

He also had an active bench warrant in Philadelphia for violating the terms of a probation sentence tied to a 1998 arrest.

In that case, Woodson was found guilty of attempted murder, robbery, aggravated assault, criminal trespass and possessing instruments of crime, and was sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison.

Lt. John Stanford, a police spokesman, said investigators believe Woodson still has ties to the area, but it's unclear why he was in the city on New Year's Day.