Update: Oct. 18, 5 p.m.
Philadelphia police on Wednesday released a compilation video describing a pattern of armed rapes in Southwest Philadelphia over the weekend. Police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying the individual depicted in the video.
People with information relating to the sexual assaults are encouraged to contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3264 or call 911.
Original article follows:
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police are looking for a gunman who they believe raped two women in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia.
The women both reported that a man approached them with a gun and demanded money. After they handed over the cash, he raped them, police said.
One woman said she was attacked around 3 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14. She was stopped in her car at a traffic light at 55th Street and Kingsessing Avenue when the armed man approached her. She gave him $20, but then he demanded that she unlock her car.
Police said the man got in and made her drive less than a mile away, where he raped her. She said after the assault, he forced her to drive to an ATM and take out more money.
She said he was wearing a blue mask, dark gray sweatpants and a gray hoodie.
The second assault was very similar. The other woman said she was attacked Sunday around 5 p.m. while she was walking near 51st Street and Springfield Avenue. She said the gunman came up behind her. She gave him $25 and some pills, police said. The man then forced her into an alley, where he raped her.
She said the man was wearing dark pants, a blue hoodie, a blue mask, and a red Phillies hat.
“Five o’clock in the afternoon, in broad daylight, on a public street — it’s just a heinous act,” said Special Victims Commanding Officer Capt. Margo Alleyene-Parker. “I actually grew up in the area, so I am very, very shocked.”
Alleyene-Parker called these assaults part of a pattern of “stranger rapes.”
“Based on the M.O., the physical description and geographical location, we believe they were likely committed by the same offender,” she said.
Anyone with any information is asked to call 911 or contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3264. Police say they are scouring through surveillance footage, and they ask anyone with a doorbell camera in the area to contact them.