It was around 12:30 a.m. Monday when a 40-year-old woman was walking down Frankford Avenue toward the Frankford Avenue Bridge when a naked man emerged from the park and ran across the street.
He yelled an obscenity at the woman and jumped her from behind as she was crossing the bridge.
The man knocked the victim to the ground and tried to sexually assault her.
She managed to get up, jump the guard rail and ran down Frankford Avenue, screaming.
Those screams got the attention of a Philadelphia School District Police Officer, who happened to be passing by in a marked car.
Investigators say, when the attacker saw the marked car, he ran back into Pennypack Park and hasn't been seen since.
The Philadelphia Police Department believes this is one of three sexual assaults that may have been committed by the same man. All three attacks occurred in or around the same area of Frankford Avenue and Pennypack Park.
Though, no definitive DNA link has been made as of yet, police say the incidents have similarities in motive, nature of assault, and locations.
On July 17, 2009, at 8:00 p.m., a 43-year-old woman reported to police that an unknown naked male approached her inside of Pennypack Park, forced her to the ground and bound her arms with plastic ties prior to sexually assaulting her.
On May 18, 2010, at 4:30 a.m., a 35-year-old woman reported that she fell asleep on a park bench inside of Pennypack Park. She awoke to an unknown male placing a t-shirt over her face. He forced her into a wooded area where he bound her wrists with plastic ties prior to sexually assaulting her.
The victim in Monday morning's attack was back at the scene, talking to police. She gave them a description of the suspect that is almost identical to the description given by the earlier victims, except for the lack of clothing.
The suspect is described as a white man, about six feet tall, 30 to 40 years old, and weighing more than 200 pounds. He had a light complexion and short blonde hair.
Detectives from the Special Victims Unit have scoured the scene, but the suspect still has not been found. Authorities did leave with bags of possible evidence, but so far there is no sign of any discarded clothing or anything else that might lead them to the suspect.
