Police: 44th and Spruce home invasion and sex assault similar to Oct. Center City crimes

http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/12/09/News/Police.44th.And.Spruce.Home.Invasion.And.Sex.Assault.Similar.To.Oct.Center.City-3580770.shtml

Updated Dec. 19, 5:30 p.m.Two Penn students were victims of an armed home invasion and sexual assault Friday night.Philadelphia police say that the incident is similar to two others that occurred in Center City in October and believe the same person is responsible for all three attacks.

At about 3 p.m. Friday, a 22-year-old Penn student was leaving her apartment on an upper floor of an apartment building located on the 4400 block of Spruce Street. An unidentified male approached her in the hallway and forced her back into her apartment at knifepoint, according to Capt. John Darby of the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit.Inside, he produced a handgun and robbed her of her iPod, cell phone, laptop and cash. He then bound, blindfolded and gagged her, Darby said.The woman was tied for more than an hour, when her roommate, a 24-year-old Penn student, arrived.

She was robbed of similar items and then sexually assaulted several times by the perpetrator over the course of several hours. Darby said the perpetrator went to great lengths to hide his identity - he wore gloves and a ski mask and also forced his victim to take a shower to try to eliminate any evidence left as a result of the assault.

The women called the police when the man left the apartment sometime after 7 p.m. They were taken to the hospital but did not suffer critical injuries, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said.It is unclear how the man, whom the women did not know, entered the apartment.

The man was armed with a gun and a knife. He is described as a black male in his mid- to late-20s, about 6 foot tall with short black hair and having an average build and goatee. He is said to be wearing black jacket with a zipper down the front over a tan shirt and blue jeans with Timberland boots. He is possibly carrying a blue bookbag and blue umbrella.Darby said that this incident bears similarities between two incidents that occurred in Center City this fall.