(PHILADELPHIA, PA) — A suspected bicycle groper was arrested yesterday after a late afternoon pursuit in Queen Village that resulted in injuries to a police officer.
The 27-year-old alleged serial groper, whose name is being withheld by police until their investigation is complete, had just pawed the buttocks of a woman on Lombard Street at 5:45 p.m., police said.
The unidentified woman had been walking alone, like nine other victims the suspect is being questioned about.
The woman sprang into action after she was assaulted, calling 911 on her cell phone and attempting to chase her assailant.
She then sought help at the Famous 4th Street Deli at 4th and Bainbridge streets, said Lt. Tom McDevitt of the police Special Victims Unit. Some deli employees gave chase but couldn’t catch him, McDevitt said.
When bike officer Tamika Brown began pursuit of the groper, “it was like a bike race,” McDevitt said. “Unfortunately when they made one turn, she hit a curb (at Swanson and Queen streets) and fell, injuring her [right] knee,” he said.
Brown notified other officers about the chase and then “got up and still tried to…catch him,” McDevitt said.
The suspect, who was found with a change of clothes, was apprehended by Officer Edward Mazur of the 3rd District. The suspect had an orange cap in his belt and was wearing another one, McDevitt said.
“He does match the description of our previous incidents, and he’s under investigation right now,” McDevitt said.
Officer Brown was taken to Temple University Hospital where she was being treated for a knee injury.
For now, the suspect, who is of Hispanic descent and lives in South Philadelphia, will be charged with one count of indecent assault, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in relation to yesterday’s attack and pursuit.
Before he can be charged with the previous attacks, he’ll have to be positively identified by the remaining nine victims, investigators said.
“Based on what we know so far, we have our groper guy,” said police spokesman Cpl. Jim Pauley.
On Sunday morning, a ninth victim was groped on her buttocks as she speed-walked alone on 2nd Street near Lombard, McDevitt said.
The groper, dressed in a black T-shirt with white lettering that read “Spin the Bottle” and an orange baseball cap, approached the 27-year-old victim from behind, McDevitt said.
Police are still looking for another groper, the original cyclist who hit the streets of Center City and assaulted 12 women during a one-week period in May.
Tell Police What You Know
If you have any information on the groper – a heavyset white male between 30 and 40 years of age, with brown or blond hair and a mustache – call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-1185