A knife-wielding man accused of raping a woman in Central Park was arrested Tuesday while working at a Burger King in Florida, police said. Authorities also plan to charge him in connection with two earlier sexual assaults in the Manhattan park.
Dereck Rivera-Deleon, 30, was taken into custody in Miami by members of the NYPD and the US Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to police.
Investigators said Rivera-Deleon was working at the fast-food restaurant just two weeks after the alleged attack on a 39-year-old woman in a wooded section of Central Park on the Upper East Side.
Police said the suspect allegedly displayed a knife, pulled the victim into an isolated area near East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26, and sexually assaulted her. The woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The attacker fled wearing a black hooded jacket, black pants and a black backpack. NYPD-released video also showed the suspect walking along a sidewalk while holding earbuds in his hands.
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Rivera-Deleon, who has a Bronx address, is also expected to face charges tied to two earlier Central Park rapes reported in 2023 and 2021, police said.
In response to the latest assault, the NYPD said it had increased its patrol presence throughout the park.
“The NYPD has increased patrols in Central Park,” department officials said in a statement. “As with any part of the city, we remind everyone to always be aware of their surroundings and to remain vigilant.”
The reported assault marked the fifth rape in Central Park since the beginning of the year, according to department crime data. That compares with three reported rapes in the same area during the corresponding period last year.