Police search for suspect in Center City assault

Police are searching for a man who sexually assaulted and robbed a woman at knifepoint in Center City this week after luring her to a remote area under the pretext of helping her find her roommate.

The 24-year-old victim told police that the man choked and assaulted her in a grassy area near 15th and Vine Streets early Tuesday, said Philadelphia Capt. John Darby. She had no other injuries.

The suspect took cash and a debit card, and demanded the victim give him her PIN. The man then went to two Center City banks to make withdrawals, where a camera at one ATM captured clear images of his face.

The victim told police she and her roommate had been out near a residence at 15th and Locust Streets Monday night when they lost track of each other. The victim returned to the area sometime before 3 a.m. to look for her roommate and was approached by the suspect, Darby said. The suspect convinced the victim that he knew where her roommate was, and that he had seen the women out together several hours earlier.

"This male gains this woman's confidence by actually describing what she had been wearing earlier," Darby said. "That is disconcerting."

Together they walked to 15th and Vine, where the assault took place. Afterward the man left on foot.

By the time the woman called police to report the assault, around 3 a.m., the man was already making withdrawals from her bank account.

Darby described the suspect as a black male in his late 30s to early 40s, about 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, with a "scruffy" face and short black hair. He was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a blue or black sweatshirt.

"We're asking the public to take a look at this guy," Darby said.

The victim has identified the suspect from the surveillance photos, Darby said.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251.