Philadelphia police have arrested 37-year-old Dynel Walker in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Center City and South Philadelphia, as reported by NBC10. Walker was apprehended yesterday and is suspected of at least six attacks occurring between July 18 and August 3, according to the Philadelphia Tribune and 6ABC.
An anonymous tip following the release of suspect images and video led to the identification of Walker, with a tipster spotting him in Horsham, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested outside a Sam's Club as he was charging his phone. Walker's extensive history of 21 prior arrests was noted, although none for sexual assault, and while he is in police custody, officials believe he may be tied to other undisclosed incidents, and they continue urging any potential victims to step forward and contact them with information.
The assaults, which happened at all hours of the day in populated urban spaces, began on July 18, when a woman, out in the early light walking her dog on Spruce Street, encountered a man whose "good morning, beautiful" precursed an act of violence, Captain Margo Alleyne-Parker of the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit, as detailed by 6ABC. The pattern repeated with assaults taking place just after 3 a.m. the following day on Delancey Street, then late on a Saturday morning on Waverly Street, and finally, a cluster of attacks in the early hours and midday on Sunday, August 3. Each instance was marked by an abrupt and violent breach of bodily autonomy as Walker allegedly approached from behind and groped the women, with at least one victim managing to flee after he commanded, "Let me touch you," as per official statements reported by 6ABC.
Captain Alleyne-Parker emphasized in a news conference, "He came up behind them and groped them in all the incidents, in some instances, things may have gone a little further," detailing patterns in the six reported cases, meanwhile, a woman interviewed by NBC10 recounted a chilling encounter in which she was followed on a deserted city block before escaping to the company of strangers.
