Philly police search for suspect in sexual assault at SEPTA Broad Street station

Philadelphia police are looking for a suspect in a sexual assault that happened at gunpoint Monday morning in the Snyder Avenue station on SEPTA’s Broad Street Line.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m. before the first train came through the station.

Captain James Kearney of the police Special Victims Unit said the woman who was assaulted was at the station, “with a boyfriend of hers. We know she was trying on some clothes; they were down there, you don’t see anyone else in the video and then our offender arrives at the scene.”

Once the man, who is described as in his 20s, showed up with his green bicycle, police say there was a confrontation with the boyfriend who was then held at gunpoint and forced to watch the assault.

“He had had a brief interaction with this male on the platform and lost sight of him. And the next thing you know, he was pointing a gun, he had his hands up, and then he proceeds to sexually assault our victim,” Kearney said.

The suspect left the station on a bicycle, riding north on Broad.

The incident occurred on a bench in the station and DNA evidence was recovered, Kearney said. The evidence is being expedited through the police forensics lab with hopes of attaching a name to the suspect.

Police say the assault was also caught on videotape and a very clear picture of the suspect is available. He’s seen wearing a hoodie with a NASA logo on both the front and back. The suspect is 5’6” tall, and weighs about 160 lbs. He had a gun with a green slide and extended magazine.