A woman stripped naked and sprinted into Downtown Pittsburgh traffic Thursday morning after trying to shoplift a bag of peanuts from the Smithfield News, police said.
The incident apparently began at the Greyhound Bus station on Second Avenue, Downtown, just before 8 a.m. when the woman spit on someone and two other women tried to restrain her, partially ripping off her shirt in the process.
The woman, whose name was not released, then walked toward the Allegheny County Jail, where someone spotted her and called police. By the time officers arrived, the woman was at the Smithfield News, which she entered while waving a hubcap in the air, said clerk Diana Jackson.
"She was acting really weird and she tried to steal some peanuts so we asked her to leave, but she kept coming back in," Jackson said.
Finally, the woman walked outside, removed all her clothes and dashed into traffic on the Boulevard of the Allies, startling motorists.
"Traffic was completely stopped and everyone was just staring at her," Jackson said. "I’ve never seen anything like that."
The woman ran off before police arrived, but was caught in Market Square, Jackson said.
The woman was admitted to the Western Psychiatric Hospital, said Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin.
She is not facing criminal charges, Ewin said.