Last Updated on December 4, 2022
Philadelphia police are searching for a black female suspect who viciously assaulted a University of Pennsylvania student in Center City. The “violent and unprovoked assault” left a 23-year-old female student with a broken nose and fears that she can no longer attend classes safely. Philadelphia’s continuing crime crisis has increasingly affected university students in recent weeks, prompting fears that the city’s numerous colleges could see a drop in enrollment if the issues are left unaddressed.
“She turned toward me and started running toward me. (She) swung on me and broke my glasses and my nose,” the student, who wished to remain unidentified, told ABC’s Alyana Gomez.
The University of Pennsylvania student said she is speaking out to warn other women of the heightened sense of danger on Philadelphia streets. “It felt like it was going on for a long time without anyone stepping in,” she said.
Video of the assault — which shows a black female suspect throwing the victim to the ground while proceeding to punch and stomp her — is being reviewed by the Philadelphia Police Department. At one point in the video, the attacker even dragged the victim through the middle of a busy street.
“When she had me on the ground is when I was really panicking and trying to fight back. I tried to grab her ankle to get her off balance but it didn’t work. She just overpowered me. It was scary,” said the victim.
“A violent and unprovoked attack” on a University Of Pennsylvania student in Center City
The students nose was broken
The female offender is wanted for multiple random aggravated assaults on unsuspecting pedestrians. pic.twitter.com/h6z31tlamB
— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) December 3, 2022
The “unprovoked” assault took place on November 20 around 12 p.m. at Broad and Spruce streets. Bystanders recorded the video and captured a clear view of the attacker’s face, though a suspect has not been named as of this time. “Still very shaken and adjusting. I’m still super uncomfortable resuming normal city life because it did happen out of nowhere,” the victim said.
SEPTA police believe that the same woman was involved in another “unprovoked” assault on a woman that same day. Captain Rodger Walls said she boarded the train at 15th Street station and slammed a woman’s head against the wall, ABC 6 Philadelphia reported.
“The actor, who is this Black female in question was mumbling to herself and just out of nowhere randomly attacked her and then disembarked from the train,” said Walls.
On September 1, the same woman attacked yet another woman at the Spring Garden station, police say. “She definitely has to be suffering from some kind of mental illness that’s why it’s just the pictures of her have been disseminating throughout all patrol, so we really are on the manhunt for her,” said Wells.
The hunt for the suspect continues as a series of high-profile violent crimes have become a massive point of concern at North Philadelphia’s Temple University. In addition to the murders of two Temple students and recent graduates in the last year, a series of home invasions targeting students has brought the issue to the spotlight.
Just days after District Attorney Larry Krasner departed from his usual “bail reform” approach to hold one of the home invasion suspects on a high bail fee, a man was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail into a row home where four Temple students were living. The man, who was arrested weeks after the disturbing attack, is reportedly a squatter who was living next-door, authorities said.
The students reportedly called the police on the suspect after he was suspected of involvement in a number of car break-ins targeting students.
