Police start search for area rapist

Philadelphia Police are searching for the culprit in an alleged rape and sexual assault in West Philadelphia last week.

The first attack occurred last Thursday, Jan. 31, at 6:45 a.m.

The rapist reportedly approached a 23-year-old woman from behind, and allegedly forced her at knifepoint into an alleyway at 56th Street and Woodland Avenue, where he then raped her.

The next morning, Feb. 1, at 7:30 a.m., a 17-year-old girl on her way to school was also attacked at knifepoint and forced into an alley near 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue, where she was then sexually assaulted.

Police think one man is responsible for both attacks.

According to the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit, the assailant placed a cap over the victims' eyes in an effort to hinder their vision.

Police have been unable to get a clear composite of the rapist, as the victims were could not get a good look at their attacker.

Because police are almost certain that the attacks were made by the same man, they have classified him as a serial rapist.

It is thought that the rapist would probably seek women between the ages of 17 and 23.

The rapist is thought to be a man of between 20 and 30 years of age and 5'10" to 6' 2" in height.

The assailant reportedly wore dark clothing and shoes.

Police believe that the rapist escaped on foot and that, as a man familiar with the neighborhood, he is likely a resident of the West Philadelphia area.

In some Philadelphia newspapers, Captain Joseph Mooney of the Special Victims Unit has urged women in the area to be careful.

He encouraged anyone with any information regarding the assaults to come forward. The Special Victims Unit can be reached at (215) 685-1180.

But officials from both the 18th Police District -- the district in which the incidents occurred -- and the Special Victims Unit declined to comment any further.

The last serial rapist in the Philadelphia area was known as the Center City rapist.

Although the Center City rapist has yet to be caught, he is linked to more than six rapes of young women in their 20s in the Rittenhouse Square area of the city and elsewhere. The incidents began in 1997 and included the rape and murder of Wharton doctoral student Shannon Schieber in May of 1998.

The latest suspect in the case was 27-year-old Karl Naylor. Naylor was arrested for trespassing in Rittenhouse Square during the height of the attacks in 1999. He was, however, acquitted after DNA testing last October.

Police have yet to name another suspect in the nearly six-year-old rapist case but thought they had found a new lead in September, when police in Fort Collins, Colo., were searching for the assailant in six rapes similar in nature to those committed by the Center City rapist.

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