Police are searching for two teenage suspects they say were involved in a rape and robbery at about 10 p.m. last night near 48th Street and Springfield Avenue.
The police Special Victims Unit said a 32-year-old woman and 40-year-old man were walking along 48th Street when they were approached by two young males one of whom flashed a black handgun. The two young men led the man and woman to the back of a nearby home on the 900 block of S. 48th Street and robbed them. One suspect, who police say is between 17 and 19 years old, then sexually assaulted the woman.
The first suspect is described as a black male age 17-19, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a black t-shirt. The second suspect was a black male age 13-14, about 5 feet 4 inches tall and wearing a plaid shirt. Anyone with information can contact the Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit at 215-685-3251.
September 14th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
I just searched specifically for this topic after having a strange feeling while walking my dogs. We passed the caution taped off section, which I now assume to be the scene of at least part of the crime. This is horrifying to me. A short while later, perhaps an hour or so, while sitting on my porch on Warrington Ave, I heard what at first I thought to be a dog fight but in retrospect I believe to be a group related assault. I can find no information on that. This will be the second time in less than a year in which I have heard someone scream out in horror. Can nothing be done about these things so close to my home? I don’t feel safe and I worry about my friends and neighbors. Where are these parents? 13-14 years old, my god! And why does the curfew not extend to my neighborhood?
I feel I should also mention, earlier in the day I overheard a group of kids discussing the best way to go about robbing people that night. Is this something I should have contacted the police about earlier in the day? At the time I thought, in their own sick way, they were just showing off. But now after the description I wonder if It could have been them. I’ve never had very much success with the PPD in reporting a crime. I wish at the time I had taken it more seriously. Is a juvenile talking about a crime conspiracy?…Any advice or direction would be much appreciated.
September 14th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Hi Kate. That is definitely something you should contact the police about. I know it can feel a little silly, like you’re over-reacting to harmless fun, but that’s for the cops to sort out. I would actually recommend contacting the police now, telling them what you heard and giving them a description of the kids. They often catch robbers through plainclothes cops who wander the same streets you and I do, but they know what to look for, and, well, they’re cops. This sort of info can be really helpful to them. If 911 doesn’t seem particularly responsive, you might want to contact the SW Detectives directly. Det. Murray Tweets under the name TheFuzz9143, and he’s usually very responsive.
September 14th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Late last night two young (clearly teenage) black men attempted to rob several of my friends who were on a porch on the 800 block of St. Bernard. My friends managed to take their gun and drive them away. A police report has been filed on the incident.
It seems as likely as not that these are same culprits. I’ve heard of several incidents in the past few weeks involving pairs or possibly trios of notably younger suspects, one of whom has a gun, approaching people either on their porch or on the street. In another incident last week, a young woman was approached in much the same way as the victims in this case, at around the same intersection (48th and Chester), and when they attempted to walk her into an alley she threw her purse at them and ran (I know this because the purse was recovered the next day by someone I know, who reconnected it with its owner and got the story).
I think it’s a gang of kids from a very different neighborhood (one of the kids who tried to rob my friends last night started a conversation before the other showed up with the gun, and he apparently said he was from Darby) coming to West Philly (it seems like the area between 46th and 50th, between Baltimore and Kingsessing, is being targeted) to commit crimes they think they can easily get away with. This has been going on for at least a few weeks. Basically, watch out. These kids are younger and less cautious than the average criminal, and at least as dangerous.
September 14th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Can we somehow implement a crime watch or do something to stop these terrible things from happening? I know we all love this neighborhood enough to do SOMETHING to make it safer
September 14th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
i’ve been follwing this on the west phiily section of philadelphiaspeaks and there’s info on town watches (i’m interested in them too) and a community meeting w/ a police officer tomorrow night
September 14th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Brigette, I am right there with you and believe one of the first things we should attempt is to have the curfew area extended to what seems to be the targeted neighborhood as opposed to the section primarily not affected but protecting penn students. I am however very comforted by the fact that tonight while sitting on my porch I’ve seen multiple bike cops ( not penn security) as well as squad cars patrolling. If there’s a meeting tomorrow night I will be there. I also feel I should add my theory, that the kids, if the same, are from right around here, pissed off and bored and obviously lacking any moral foundation due to absentee parenting. And that acts like these, as heinous as the seem to us, are somehow the cool thing to brag about at school, or the thing to do for the night. Is it any wonder what with Nutter cutting back on so many community based outreach programs, after school, libraries, and community pools being shut down. I think results of which we are all now facing. If anyone else could have heard the lackadaisical way in which those kids were talking about what their best laid plans for the evening. Obviously in retrospect I shudder to think of what I actually overheard. I strongly recommend anyone with information no matter how trivial it may seem contact the above number provided.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Kate, my own experiences with the PPD, while years ago, were quite impressive. I was once mugged on the Subway and the cops caught the guy (he was stupid and came back to the scene of the crime). Another time, our home was robbed and again, the cops caught the guys. In both cases, the cops were very professional and helpful. Probably the best experiences I’ve ever had with the police. But both of those events were about 2 decades back.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
I just spoke to one of my friends who confronted the would-be robbers last night on St. Bernard … his description of the culprits matches the description in this post (one 5’8”, one 5’4” and wearing a plaid shirt). He described the taller suspect as wearing a white T-shirt rather than the black one mentioned in this post, though, and he expressed potential doubt that the second suspect was actually male (maybe a relatively masculine-looking older-teenage female, rather than a younger male?).
They did NOT actually wrest the gun away from the attackers as I previously thought, but my friend also expressed doubts that it was a real gun (he described it as a large, matte black, long-barrel “Dirty-Harry” revolver, and said he thought he saw what looked like scuffs on a paint job on the gun’s cylinder, where it had been rubbing up against the suspect’s waistband). This is obviously no reason to assume that these suspects are not armed and dangerous. They are clearly young, reckless amateurs in crime and are therefore that much more likely to make impulsive and dangerous decisions.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
It really makes me feel better just to hear you all talk of what we can do to stop these kinds of acts from happening. As most of you, I was sickened by this recent news and want to help any way possible. These kids think that they are untouchable and so they are brazen. In junction with the police, we need to put a stop to this.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
The curfew you are talking about, the special 9pm one put in place in August that applied to Center City and University City, expired on September 6. The regular school-year curfew is now in effect again. It’s citywide, and is later than the special curfew (10:30pm on weekdays, midnight on weekends for youth 13 to 17). In my opinion, as someone who does youth education work with West Philly teenagers, earlier curfews are not the answer. They criminalize youth for being in public space instead of engaging them positively. I agree with Kate that the problem is how many community-based outreach programs, after school programs, libraries, pools, and rec centers have had their hours cut or been shut down. We need the city to focus on that, not institute another curfew.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
As fromula mentioned, there will be a meeting about this in the lower level of Calvary Church, 48th and Baltimore, at 6pm tomorrow, Sep. 15th.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
I was horrified to read about this crime and feel really badly for the two victims, as it must have been extremely traumatic to go through. I was also annoyed that the suspects were described simply as “two black males” given how varied the physical characteristics within the black race are. Were they light-skinned, brown-skinned, dark-skinned? Short hair, long hair, braids, afro, mohawk? Any facial hair? Saying “two black male” teens in the city of Philadelphia doesn’t help to narrow down the suspect pool at all, and, in fact, only succeeds in perpetuating a general fear of young black men in this city, and the world at large.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Cara, consider there is a chance that the attacks occurred so quickly and that the victims were so scared the cops are lucky they could provide clothing, age height and weapon details about the attackers. I’m not sure how many other details I could provide in a dark alley getting sexually assaulted, myself. Often descriptions are provided so any witnesses who saw these characters around that time could come forth. Not so we all would dodge anyone of a general physical description for the rest of the year.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Shoot them when attacked:
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=6970
…Governor Tom Corbett (R) signed Pennsylvania Castle Doctrine legislation into law. This common-sense measure permits law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against attackers in their homes and any place where they have a legal right to be. It also protects individuals from civil lawsuits by attackers or attackers’ families when force is used.
Of course, get a permit first to carry!
September 15th, 2011 at 7:30 am
Just saw this on Detective Joeseph Murray’s Twitter account (thefuzz9143)
TheFuzz9143 Joseph Murray
“Some good news should be released later this morning regarding the rape and robbery.”
The posting seems to have been made in the wee hours this morning.
Cautiously optimistic,
S.
September 15th, 2011 at 8:40 am
“…there will be a meeting about this in the lower level of Calvary Church, 48th and Baltimore, at 6pm tomorrow, Sep. 15th.”
Unfortunately, many can not attend this due to back-to-school night at area schools. Would someone please post helpful information from this meeting?
September 15th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Everyone,
The UCD public safety escort dispatch tel# is:
(215) 898- WALK
(that’s 898- 9255)
I just called to verify their boundaries; they go as far west as 50th St., and as far south as Woodland Ave.
I’ve used the service, and I hope lots more people will. Please spread the word.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:37 am
“I was also annoyed that the suspects were described simply as “two black males” given how varied the physical characteristics within the black race are. Were they light-skinned, brown-skinned, dark-skinned? Short hair, long hair, braids, afro, mohawk? Any facial hair? Saying “two black male” teens in the city of Philadelphia doesn’t help to narrow down the suspect pool at all, and, in fact, only succeeds in perpetuating a general fear of young black men in this city, and the world at large.”
Very sorry, Cara, but I did not take notes. I was terrified. I will try to do better next time.
September 15th, 2011 at 10:16 am
@Rape Survivor, if you’re pretending to be the person that was sexually assaulted in this instance, you’re not funny.
September 15th, 2011 at 10:41 am
There is absolutely nothing wrong with describing them as black. if they were purple they would have been described as purple. i am annoyed that your trying to change the point here. Facts are not racist. take your fight somewhere else , these people are trying to figure out how to feel safer in there neighborhoods and combat crime. not take on the worlds troubles. great now i’m changing the point.
September 15th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Does anyone know whatever happened to the old phillyblog crime thread? That was a great resource and detective Joe Murray was a frequent contributor. Does anyone know about a similar thread?
September 15th, 2011 at 11:09 am
@Rape Survivor, if you were the person that was assaulted, know that this entire community is here to support you and your boyfriend. Any one of us could have been in your position and our thoughts and prayers are with both of you. Whatever you need from us to heal, do not be afraid to seek.
September 15th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Praying is a cope-out and useless in actually changing the situation. How about doing something?
September 15th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
EN, how about blaming the CRIMINAL instead of the VICTIM. You are unwittingly showing which side of society you are really on. That of the violent, short-sighted and selfish, rather than of the social, loving, respectful and human element.
@Neighbor – Thank you.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
R.S. You are unwittingly showing your inability to read and comprehend other people’s comments. Praying is useless in any occasion. What is useful is offering a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, a watchful eye.
September 15th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
@EN. A little compassion here please. R.S. appears to be the victim in this case. Folks cope in different ways.
September 15th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
What’s most important is that the victims in this crime get the help that they need. Like most people, I was livid when I heard this news (and still am), but listening to the boyfriend’s comments on the news made me pause. If anyone should be seeking retribution, it’s the two who suffered this crime. But the comments he made were towards trying to find those who did it and to try to help himself and his girlfriend deal with what happened. Don’t get me wrong, I want those two punks to suffer and suffer badly. And I mean badly. But it’s not about my anger (or anyone else’s anger); it’s about helping those who have been hurt and making sure that this doesn’t happen again to anyone – in this neighborhood or any other neighborhood in Philadelphia.
@R.S., I’m guessing from your initials that you posted earlier. Get the help that you need and know that your neighborhood supports you.
@EN, I look forward to seeing you tonight at Calvary Church where we can discuss what can be done (other than praying) to keep our community safe.
September 15th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Neighbor, I will be there. Hopefully, I can get out of work in time.
R.S. and anyone else who has been assaulted, robbed, harassed or worse, I want to offer more than compassion and prayer to you, I want to help find a concrete solution so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
September 16th, 2011 at 1:20 am
Philly needs more cops!
September 16th, 2011 at 9:00 am
More good citizens teaching positive behaviors and being role models. How do we shape behavior to create good citizens? Certainly going to a school where other students are horrible role models and their parents reinforce and model this behavior as well, is one of the primary ways people learn to behave like this. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I work with children with disabilities and it all stems back to the parents. No matter how great the school is, the child makes more progress when the parents are consistent and follow through at home. Unfortunately, the schools have been left to parent many of these children and when they get to 18, then the police and the community are left to parent these “children.” As much as cops may help stop criminal behaviors or catch criminals after-the-fact, the cops are not teaching positive behaviors to these children. In neighborhoods like this, who IS teaching positive behaviors to these children? How can we support and teach positive behaviors in West Philly while decreasing criminal behaviors?
September 20th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
In response to the recent sexual assault on 48th and Springfield, the Philly Survivor Support Collective would like to put ourselves out there as a resource to survivors of sexual assault, including the survivor of this incident, and to anyone who is supporting a survivor. For those of us who are survivors, news of this incident may bring up upsetting memories or feelings about our own experiences. Please feel free to contact us if you are looking for support.
read more: http://phillysurvivorsupportcollective.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/55/