Suspect arrested in alleged Rittenhouse Square sexual assault
The 27-year-old victim had been walking home from a nearby bar around 1:30 a.m. Friday when she was forced between tents set up for the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, police said.
A 42-year-old man has been charged with raping a woman early Friday morning in between tents that had been set up for a Rittenhouse Square art show.
Police identified the woman’s attacker as Lorinzo M. Clark. He was arraigned Saturday on a litany of offenses, including sexual assault, robbery, and indecent exposure, and held on $750,000 bail, according to court records.
In the past, Clark lived in Erie, where he pleaded guilty to indecent assault in 2006 and received a prison sentence of six to 23 months, and also faced arrests for theft and simple assault, records show. Erie County authorities have an active warrant for his arrest, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office said.
Clark was currently homeless, a police spokesperson said.
A 27-year-old woman told investigators that she was attacked near 18th and Walnut Streets while walking home from a bar shortly after 1:30 a.m. Friday. A man, whom she described as being about 6 feet tall and wearing a gray shirt and jeans, forced her between some nearby tents and then assaulted her.
A security guard working for the 95-year-old Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show interrupted the attack, and the man ran.
Police said Clark was identified in surveillance video obtained by investigators; he was stopped near 16th and Chestnut Streets, and taken in for questioning.
No attorney was listed for Clark in court records. He is expected to face a preliminary hearing Oct. 5.