Police: Man harasses, indecently assaults five women in Germantown

Police in Germantown are on high alert after five different women reported being harassed or indecently assaulted by a man during a one-hour span Monday morning.

The victims, who range in age from 14 to 23, were all approached by a man in the area of Greene Street and Chelten Avenue between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., Special Victims Unit Capt. John Darby said.

In some instances, Darby said, the man indecently assaulted his victims and in others, he harassed them. Darby said in one case, he approached a young woman, pushed her against a wall and began kissing her neck, while in another case, another woman reported being followed off a SEPTA bus by a man who inappropriately touched her leg.

"That's not an indecent assault, but it's certainly intimidating," Darby said of that incident.

Darby said police received slightly varying descriptions of the man, who is described as black, wearing dark clothing, may be anywhere from in his 20s to his 40s and is 5 feet 8 to 6 feet tall.

"In the proximity, the description and that short period of time with all these things happening and the victims all being young-in-age females, obviously we would consider this to be a pattern," he said.

He said SVU investigators are working with police in the 14th District to keep an eye out for the man, and that detectives are looking for any surveillance video from Monday morning that may show him.

Tipsters should contact the SVU at 215-685-3251 or -3252, the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477), text a tip to PPD TIP (773847) or submit a tip online.