Police search for man accused of rape in SEPTA station
At 4:32 a.m. Monday, a man sexually assaulted a person at the Broad and Snyder SEPTA station platform, police said.
The Philadelphia Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a man wanted in the “blatant” gunpoint sexual assault of a woman on the platform of a South Philadelphia SEPTA subway station Monday morning.
“We’re hoping that anyone down in that area would have seen him or know him from the photos and video that we’re going to put out that can help us ... give us the tip that we need to put this offender away,” Capt. James Kearney, of the Special Victims Unit, said during a Monday afternoon news conference.
Police said the attack took place around 4:30 a.m. on the platform of the Broad and Snyder station. The suspect, on a bike, approached the 40-year-old female victim and her 44-year-old boyfriend and made brief small talk before pulling a black Glock handgun with a green slide and an extended magazine, video evidence shows.
As the suspect assaulted the female victim on a bench, he pointed the gun at her boyfriend, who put his hands up and “was made to watch,” said Kearney, who added that no one else was on the platform at the time of the assault.
According to the police description and images, the suspect is in his mid-20s, 160 pounds, and has light brown or hazel eyes. He was wearing a gray NASA hoodie, black pants, white sneakers, and a medical mask. The suspect was last seen riding a bicycle northbound on Broad Street.
“It is a traumatic event that occurred down on that platform, and it’s concerning to us and we want the public’s help to make sure that we can find this male in that gray sweatshirt, on that bike, with that description. We want to know who he is, where he is, and we’re going to go out and get him,” Kearney said.
While the suspect is considered armed and dangerous, there is no evidence that he is linked to other sexual assaults, the special victims captain said.
In addition to video evidence and statements from the victims, DNA evidence was also collected at the scene, police said.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call or text the police tip line at 215-686-8477 or to submit an anonymous tip online.