Thursday, June 4, 2009

Suspect Caught on Tape With Rape Victim










(WPVI) -- Police released surveillance tape that, they say, shows rape suspect Jose Carrasquillo walking with the 11-year-old girl who was attacked earlier this week.

Surveillance video shows the girl escorting her little sister to daycare. As the girls cross Kensington Avenue, a man in a white shirt can be seen walking next to them. Police identify that man as Carrasquillo.

He follows them across the street and down the sidewalk. Ten minutes later, police say Carrasquillo was dragging that 11-year-old girl down an alley and into a secluded backyard.

That's where, police say, he raped the girl so brutally that she had to undergo surgery at the hospital.

A passerby found her bleeding and crying on the sidewalk.
In that yard, police found glasses they believe belong to Carrasquillo. They also say they found more evidence that links him to the crime.


Carrasquillo was jumped by an angry mob when they spotted him near Front and Clearfield on Tuesday afternoon. People in the neighborhood recognized him from a photo released by police.


RELATED VIDEO: Carrasquillo's beating caught on video


Philadelphia's police commissioner said Thursday he will not pursue criminal charges against a group of angry neighbors who beat Carrasquillo.

Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he made the decision based on the severity of Carrasquillo's head and face lacerations, his determination that the neighbors' intent was to bring the man to police and the high level of emotion in the community after the girl's brutal attack.

About a dozen residents of the city's West Kensington neighborhood pummeled Carrasquillo for several minutes on Tuesday. Officers arrived and took him into custody on an outstanding warrant.

"From what I've seen so far, we have one victim and that's an 11-year-old girl," Ramsey said in an interview with The Associated Press.


Before making his decision, Ramsey said, he monitored Carrasquillo's condition and reviewed surveillance video of the assault. As soon as officers arrived at the scene, he said, the group stopped the beating.

"These people saw him, he attempted to run and they caught up with him," Ramsey said. "If the injuries had been severe, maybe we'd have to rethink it."


Carrasquillo has been released from the hospital, and was being interviewed by detectives Thursday afternoon.

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