NBC10’s Christine Maddela talked to people who know the man accused of repeatedly raping a woman inside her Rittenhouse Square apartment.
A three-day hunt for a rapist, who police say repeatedly victimized a young doctor inside her Rittenhouse Square apartment this weekend, has ended with the arrest of a South Philadelphia man.
Capt. John Darby, head of the Special Victims Unit, said Tuesday that 28-year-old Milton Mateo Garcia has been charged with Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping and related offenses for the assault that took place early Saturday morning.
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"We have this guy off the street and you can rest easy today. More importantly, this young professional woman and her family can begin to rebuild," Darby said during a news conference.
Mateo Garcia, who lives along the 1800 block of South 8th Street in South Philadelphia, was taken into custody on Monday along with three of his roommates. After hours of questioning, Mateo Garcia made a statement, was arrested and charged. The other men were released. Darby would not elaborate about what the man said in his statement to detectives.
Police say Mateo Garcia followed the 26-year-old doctor as she walked home around midnight Saturday from a local bar where she had been drinking with friends. Surveillance video from the 1900 block of Spruce Street shows the suspect biking up to a tree, tying up a bike and then walking up to the victim from behind and grabbing her.
"This appears to have been a crime of opportunity," Darby said. "We believed that this male followed this woman for some distance and then positioned himself at a point where he could intercept her path."
The alleged suspect walked the woman into her apartment building and forced himself into her home, investigators said. There, police say, she was repeatedly raped. Mateo Garcia stole the woman's smartphone and keys before leaving the apartment and cycling away, according to police.
Detectives were able to track the victim's phone to the suspect's neighborhood, but not to the house, Darby said. But by Saturday afternoon, after "good old detective work" Darby said investigators began watching the house. They gathered enough probable cause to obtain a search warrant on Monday. Among the evidence seized, were two bicycles and the victim's smartphone. The phone was found in a second-floor bedroom, detectives said.
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Mateo Garcia wasn't home at the time of the raid, but police say they found him working at an Indian restaurant at Broad and Christian Streets -- just a few blocks southeast from the attack scene. It's one of three jobs he had in Center City and South Philly. Detectives said he was carrying the victim's keys.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division is assisting in the investigation as Mateo Garcia is a Honduran citizen, Darby said.
ICE told NBC10 they lodged a detainer against Garcia with the Philadelphia Police. Garcia was previously removed from the United States in June of 2013, according to ICE.
"By issuing a detainer, ICE requests that a law enforcement agency notify ICE before releasing an individual in order to allow ICE to assume custody," wrote Harold Ort, the Public Affairs Officer for ICE, in a released statement.
Garcia was arraigned without bail around 5 p.m. on Monday.
SVU is also looking into whether Mateo Garcia was involved in any unsolved sexual assaults in the city.
