UPDATE: Police are now saying that the 20-year-old woman who was abducted and sexually assaulted in an 11-hour ordeal on Saturday, knew her attacker. No other details are available at this time.

Police are looking for a man who they believe abducted and sexually assaulted a young woman early Saturday morning and held her 11 hours before she escaped near 57th and Larchwood.

The 20-year-old woman was forced into a black vehicle at gunpoint at about 4 a.m. near 49th and Lancaster. The vehicle had tinted windows and a garbage bag over the driver’s side rear window, she told police. She escaped from the vehicle at about 3 p.m. on Saturday near 57th and Larchwood, police said.

Her abductor was described as a black male, about 23 years old, with dreadlocks and a long beard.

Police say a 55-year-old man has confessed to robbing and assaulting a 38-year-old woman near 41st and Pine Streets Thursday evening. The man was apprehended around 6:40 p.m. by plainclothes officers. Police say he approached the victim from behind while she was walking alone, struck her in the back of the head with a bicycle U-lock and demanded her bag. He then started dragging the woman down the street and took her bag and cell phone, when two plainclothes police officers who were nearby observed the assault and arrested the attacker. Police were on a high alert in the last few days due to the recent attacks.

Police say he is also a suspect in other assaults on women in the area over the last five days, including an attempted robbery near 41st and Sansom on Saturday and two indecent assaults on female students late Thursday morning near Drexel’s campus. Police are also checking if this person is linked to a sexual assault and robbery of a 23-year-old female, which took place on Monday night near 47th and Chestnut.

The victim of the Thursday evening attack sustained lacerations to the back of her head and was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she received stitches.

Police say the man they apprehended has 25 prior arrests.

The suspect does not appear to be linked to the rape of a Drexel University student, which took place early Wednesday morning in her off-campus apartment near 34th and Spring Garden Streets. The investigation continues.

UPDATE (12/11/2014): Unfortunately, there was another report this week of a sexual assault in West Philadelphia. A 21-year-old woman, a Drexel University student, was raped in her off-campus apartment on the 3400 block of Spring Garden street. The assault happened early Wednesday morning, around 4:15 a.m. An unidentified man broke into the student’s apartment and threatened her with a meat cleaver prior to the assault, according to reports. The man fled the apartment after the assault. The description of the attacker is not available. The apartment was dark, and the victim could not describe the man who assaulted her, but this assault and Monday’s assault near 47th and Chestnut (see below) “do not appear to be related at this time,” according to PPD spokesperson Tanya Little. Drexel police and the Special Victims Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department are investigating.

(12/10/2014): A 23-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and robbed on Monday evening near 47th and Chestnut, according to police.

The woman was walking in the 100 block of S. 47th Street at around 8:30 p.m., when an unidentified male approached and grabbed her from behind. He then forced the victim to the ground and physically and sexually assaulted her before taking her purse and fleeing on foot, according to a police report. The attacker is described as a black male between 30 and 35 years of age, approximately 6 feet tall, heavy build, with short hair, close-trimmed beard and mustache. He was wearing a blue jacket, a black knit hat and gloves and had a backpack on. The extent of the victim’s injuries are currently unknown.  Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: Police have said that they have received many useful tips on this case (see the update below). This is not an easy case for us to report for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a sexual assault and that requires the utmost sensitivity to cultivate a constructive conversation that does not blame the victim. Second, the perpetrator is still at large and many neighbors are trying to help find him, which is important in a functional and vital community. But we also must be sensitive to jumping to conclusions about our neighbors who are thin, young African American males. If we’re not, we risk that functional and vital community that everyone wants.

UPDATE (10/16/13, 9:00 a.m.): Police are still searching for the suspect. “The public is really stepping up and sending us tips, videos and names. Helping a lot,” Detective Joe Murray told West Philly Local.

A woman was sexually assaulted and robbed at gunpoint at 11:45 a.m. on Monday near 50th and Hazel. The 29-year-old was the latest victim in a string of as many as a half-dozen gunpoint robberies in that area in the last two weeks.

The victim told West Philly Local that she was approached by an African American male, 18-22 years old, wearing a red t-shirt. According to police, she was robbed of cash and then taken to a nearby alley and sexually assaulted.

“(I) didn’t even think at 11:45 in the morning on Hazel that this would happen,” the victim said.

Police confirmed the uptick in armed robberies in the vicinity in recent days. The victim said her friend was approached last night by a man fitting the same description only wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with white drawstrings near 50th and Pentridge. The man said he was from Detroit and asked for directions. The person immediately called police and the man fled. Two other robberies were reported last night and the general description of the perpetrator is similar.

Detective Joe Murray said the descriptions are similar, but couldn’t confirm that the robber was the same person that attacked the woman on Monday morning. Police are investigating the case and we’ll post an update when we have more information.

Here’s a more detailed description of the perpetrator provided by the victim:

African American male, aged 18-22, 5’8, very skinny, no facial hair, short haircut, no distinguishable scars/tattoos, was wearing a red t-shirt.

The 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty in April to a highly publicized sexual assault last fall and was scheduled to be sentenced last Friday has changed his mind.

During his sentencing hearing, Kareem Drayton rescinded his guilty plea and fired his attorney, according to court records. Drayton negotiated a guilty plea in April to the sexual assault at gunpoint of a 32-year-old teacher last September near 48th and Springfield and other robbery and weapons charges. Drayton told the court that he wants a trial.

A trial would require locating several witnesses and complainants in the case.

“(He) wants to roll the dice,” said a source familiar with the case.

Drayton’s next court date is August 16.