Possible serial rapist at large

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Police are on the hunt for an armed rapist who frequents the area of 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue and attacked two women inside their University City apartment at about 3 p.m. last Friday. The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the individual.

According to Lt. Tom McDevitt of the Special Victims Unit, the assailant could be the same man responsible for an Oct. 22 attack on a woman at Clinton Apartments, 931 Clinton St.

In last week’s assault on the 4400 block of Spruce Street, the offender pulled a knife on a 22-year-old in the foyer of her apartment building and forced her into her unit, where he produced a handgun and robbed her of numerous items, McDevitt said. The offender then duct-taped the woman to a chair and asked if she had any plans that afternoon, to which she replied she was supposed to meet her father. The perpetrator made the young lady call her dad and tell him she was not going to be seeing him, a source close to the case told the Review. A short time later, the victim’s 24-year-old roommate came home and was duct-taped and raped over the course of three hours, police said. Investigators don’t know why the man sexually assaulted the second and not the first female.

"This guy’s a scumbag," Crime Commission Vice President Santo Montecalvo told the Review. "He frequents the 50th and Baltimore area so somebody knows this individual. We need the public to start speaking up to catch some of these scumbags so everybody doesn’t have to start living in fear behind locked doors."

Before leaving the dwelling, the assailant took iPods, laptops, cellphones, cash and credit cards; police did not release a value for the stolen items.

To be eligible for the reward, information must be phoned in to the commission at 215-546-TIPS and callers must receive a code from a live operator. Individuals may remain anonymous. Information also can be given directly to the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3264.

N.J. teen murdered

Police responding to a radio call for a shooting found a 16-year-old from Vineland, N.J., mortally wounded on the 1200 block of South 56th Street last Friday.

Medic 3 arrived on the scene at 6:52 p.m. and began treating Andrew Armstrong, who had a gunshot to the rear left of his head with an exit wound to his forehead, a report said. The victim from the 3600 block of Nathan Lane was brain dead upon arrival at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and pronounced dead two days later at 2:25 p.m., Officer Tanya Little of the Police Public Affairs Unit said.

Homicide detectives continue to search for a motive and the teen’s killer.

To report information, call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334/5.

Stabbed

A brawl between two men resulted in one being knifed twice in the stomach and sent to HUP in critical condition.

Police found the victim on the 1000 block of South 57th Street shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, a report said. Medic 9 transported the 21-year-old to the hospital, where detectives were unable to interview him because of his condition.

To report information, call Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183.

Critical shot

A 29-year-old was in critical condition at HUP after someone shot him once in the right side of his rib cage on the 6500 block of Greenway Avenue.

The victim was taken to the hospital in a private auto after the 11:45 p.m. Monday incident, a report said.

Detectives continue to search for a motive and suspect since the victim was unable to provide any description of his assailant.

To report information, call Southwest Detectives at 215-686-3183.

Charged with assault

Police arrested a man after he allegedly used a hammer to attack his girlfriend inside the home they share on the 1600 block of South 56th Street.

Bernard Tisdale, 52, was charged with aggravated assault and related offenses in the 9:45 p.m. Monday incident.

The two were arguing when the offender reached for the tool and hit the 39-year-old about her head, a report said. Medic 9 took the woman to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Tisdale was apprehended at the scene.

Probably not on his list

Antionne Russell got a birthday present Dec. 18 he will never forget — a murder charge.

When Homicide Fugitive Squad detectives arrived at his mother’s dwelling on the 5400 block of Webster Street, they found the just-turned-16-year-old on a computer in the living room, Homicide Fugitive Squad Detective Michael Walter said.

As it turned out, when the teen showed up at the house on his birthday at about 11:50 p.m., his parent went to a pay phone and tipped off police, Walter said. Detectives swooped in and arrested Russell without incident, charging him with the Oct. 17 murder of 18-year-old Terrence Davis in West Philly.

Got a story for us? Contact Staff Writer Lorraine Gennaro at lgennaro@southphillyreview.com or 215-336-2500 ext. 124.