Captain John Darby of the Philadelphia Police Department's Special Victims Unit says, "This nightmare began this (Wednesday) morning at 4 a.m. for a 29-year-old female."
The South Philadelphia woman who lives in the 2000 block of South Norwood Street in Philadelphia was awakened from her sleep by a bizarre call from her 24-year-old brother asking for money. She refused and hung up the phone. The next thing she knew, her brother was at her door with three other men.
"Once the door opens," Darby says, "the offenders produce a silver handgun and they proceed to force the brother and this woman inside the residence."
A fourth man showed up later and demanded her PIN number. Then, three of the men ran off with her ATM card and took her brother with them. Police say one man who stayed behind sexually assaulted the woman while her 12-year-old daughter and 2-year-old niece slept.
Capt. Darby says it didn't end there. "After several withdrawals are made by these males accompanied by her brother, they then all return to the property and then the victim is sexually assaulted by all of the other offenders."
The victim's brother was then taken hostage and had not been seen until he showed up at the home of a long-time friend in Southwest Philadelphia late Wednesday.
The victim reportedly told his friend that the suspects beat him and sexually assaulted him with a handgun. "They actually did some things to him, I guess he wouldn't care not to even tell anyone."
The brother told the friend that the men, whom he did not know, approached him after he went to see a woman in the area of 42nd and Girard.
"He didn't say he knew them. He thinks the female set him up, that he went to see at 3 o'clock in the morning."
Police have been interviewing the brother. They are still looking for the four men involved in the attack and kidnapping.
They are described as four black males in their 20s. One has a tear-drop tattoo under one of his eyes, and another may go by the name of "Reek". They're believed to be driving a shiny red four-door Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis.
