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Video: Man wanted in attacks, rape in Juniata Park still at large

A video showing a suspect in a gunpoint rape and two other attacks in the city's Juniata Park section since last week has been released by police.

A video showing a suspect in a gunpoint rape and two other attacks in the city's Juniata Park section since last week has been released by police.

The video shows the man grabbing a 20-year-old woman as she walks on O Street near Hunting Park Avenue around 11:40 a.m. Thursday. He brandished a handgun and attempted to pull her into an alley, according to police, but was scared off when a car drove down the block. The woman can be seen running from where the man dragged her in the surveillance video.

Investigators believe the same attacker accosted a 22-year-old woman around 6:30 that same morning in the area, on Maywood Street near Lycoming, as she walked to the Erie-Torresdale El stop. In that instance, the man also brandished a handgun, investigators said, and pulled the woman into an alley, where he raped her and stole $30 from her.

Tuesday morning, police say the man struck again around 7:20 a.m. when he came out of a rear alley and grabbed and threatened a 15-year-old girl as she walked on Neilson Street near Hunting Park Avenue. The girl managed to break free and run home, and the attacker fled.

The victims described the man to police as black and in his mid-20s to 30s. In the first attack, police say he wore a dark-green windbreaker, blue jeans and a blue bandanna on his neck. In the second, he wore blue jeans and a blue track jacket and may have been driving a white sedan. Descriptions of the gun given to police said it was a black or silver revolver. In the latest attack, the victim described the assailant to police as thin and 5 feet 10 with a dark complexion, a goatee and gaps in his front teeth. In that instance, his clothing was described as a blue hooded sweatshirt with white stitching.

A police source said investigators have reason to believe the man will attack again if he is not caught. Special Victims Unit investigators, police and U.S. Marshals were in the neighborhood Tuesday and Wednesday searching for him, but had not yet found any suspects as of about 2 p.m.

Anyone with information about the attacks is asked to contact the SVU at 215-685-3263, the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477), submit a tip online here or text a tip to PPD TIP (773847). Tipsters may remain anonymous.