UPDATED: 10/22/22, 3:50 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police have arrested 24-year-old Quadir Jones in connection with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl Friday.
Jones is charged with rape, kidnapping, robbery and other offenses after police say he accosted and raped the girl on her way to school. According to investigators, Jones forced the girl to give him her number, then called and texted her later that day.
Detectives were able to use Jones' phone number to locate him. He was arrested later that day. Authorities haven't said if Jones is also a suspect in the rape of a 15-year-old girl Thursday morning.
The District Attorney's Office said it will ask the court to set bail at $5 million, as an approximation of no bail eligibility before trial.
ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS:
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police are asking for the public's help finding the person or persons responsible for a pair of violent sexual assaults of teenagers on their way to school Thursday and Friday morning.
Capt. James Kearney, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit, says they are looking for at least one person, who may be responsible for two separate incidents.
Thursday morning assault
Police say the first assault happened Thursday around 8 a.m. on the subway concourse at the Broad-Ridge Spur stop at Eighth Street in Chinatown. A 15-year-old girl got on the Broad Street Line at Olney to go to school.
The suspect tried to talk to her, Kearney said, and when she got off at the Broad-Ridge Spur, he tried to assault her under a staircase.
She was able to fight him off, but after she reached the street level above the platform, he forced her into an apartment, where police say the assault occurred. Police are investigating that apartment, but they are not releasing any more information about it just yet, Kearney said.
The suspect is described as a man in his early 20s with a slim build and about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. He was wearing a blue Nike hoodie; light, distressed jeans and white sneakers.
Friday morning assault
The second assault happened Friday morning. It involved a 13-year-old girl who was also on her way to school, Kearney said. She got off the Broad Street Line at Race Street, where he said a man approached her, threatening her, saying he had a gun.
The man then forced the girl into a parking garage stairway on the 1800 block of Cherry Street and raped her, Kearney said. Afterward, the man walked with the girl to school, and that's where police were able to get a surveillance image, Kearney said.
Philadelphia police are is attempting to identify this man in reference to a sexual assault Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, at 7:45 a.m. on the 1800 block of Cherry Street.Philadelphia Police Department
He is described as being in his late teens or early 20s, wearing a black North Face jacket and black sweatpants with white lettering on the pant leg, and black-and-white sneakers. He appears to have Beat headphones around his neck.
Police say the suspect was last seen walking north toward the intersection of 16th and Vine streets.
Anyone who recognizes or who may have seen this man, or these men, in the subway or on the street, is encouraged to call 911 or submit a tip to police by calling or texting 215-686-8477. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online.
At the time of day these assaults happened, in the morning hours, as the girls were heading to school, there were people around, Kearney said. So he says there is a good chance somebody saw something that will help police identify and find the suspect.
KYW Newsradio's Andre Bennett contributed to this story.
