The mayor’s office has put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man who beat, raped and robbed a woman on a Frankford street Aug. 29.
The victim had accompanied a younger friend to a bus stop and was walking home near Griscom and Church streets at 12:17 a.m. when a man came up behind her, punched her and forced her into an alley, said Capt. John Darby, commander of the special victims unit. The man, who the woman didn’t know, continued to beat the 24-year-old woman, choked her and sexually assaulted her, Darby said Tuesday. The woman may have lost consciousness, the captain said.
He said it was a violent attack that had no apparent motivation.
“This was absolutely random,” Darby said.
The man took the woman’s handbag, which contained ID and a phone, and fled. The victim had been repeatedly punched in the head and face, Darby said.
Police are circulating a photo of the man taken by a surveillance camera. He is a slender black man with a medium to dark complexion who stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall and is about 20 years old. He has short black hair and was wearing a white T-shirt, dark pants and dark shoes.
Darby said surveillance video posted on the police Web site is particularly telling because it shows how the man targeted his victim and went right after her, and it shows the viewer how the man walks. Darby hopes a friend or a family member will recognize the man and turn him in. ••
To view the surveillance video, visit the Philadelphia Police YouTube Channel or visit http://phillypolice.com/news. Anyone who sees this man should not approach him, police said, but should immediately call 911. To submit a tip via telephone, dial 215–686-TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPD TIP or 773847.
