Hunt ends in South Philly assaults

A man identified as a person of interest in a South Philadelphia sexual assault turned himself in on a probation-violation warrant Friday, police said.

Raheem Felder, 32, of Point Breeze, was arrested solely for the probation violation. A warrant has not been issued in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a woman in her bed, or in an earlier home invasion just blocks from that attack.

In an interview outside her home in Point Breeze, Felder's mother, Roberta, said she believes police have the wrong man.

She said police were trying to "pin the two cases on him," and added that her son was not a bad person.

"Why would he want to hurt someone?" asked his brother, Austin Bynum.

Raheem Felder spent 12 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder before being released last year on parole. He has two daughters, the family said, and would not want to put his freedom in jeopardy.

His mother said she had not seen or heard from him since the Tuesday before Memorial Day.

Felder lived in his mother's house on South Chadwick Street, just blocks from where both attacks took place, and police had sought to question him in both.

The first happened in March, when a man entered a woman's house on the 1700 block of Chadwick, demanded money, choked her, and attempted to sexually assault her before fleeing.

The most recent incident took place early Monday when a man broke into another woman's house on Rosewood Street in South Philadelphia, stole her car keys, drove her car a few blocks away, then returned to the house. There, police said, he demanded money and sexually assaulted the 35-year-old in her bed.

Police recovered video footage of the man parking the woman's car, and on Thursday searched Roberta Felder's home.