Woman raped during 5-hour ordeal in her car; 3 arrested

A YOUNG woman's Christmas - and her life - was shattered Tuesday when she was kidnapped, raped, robbed and beaten in her own car by three teenagers over five hours, according to police.

"You'll get sick in the stomach," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood, before reciting the facts of the case.

About 11:40 p.m. Christmas night, the 22-year-old victim was in her Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot of George's Water Ice, at Grace and Marshall roads, waiting for her boyfriend to come out of a nearby bar, when three men - one of whom had a gun - forced their way into her vehicle, Chitwood said.

They made the woman move to the back seat and drove her around Philadelphia for hours, police said. One by one, the men took turns in the back seat forcing the victim to perform sex acts, even after she repeatedly vomited on them, according to court documents.

The men also hit her and robbed her of her Coach purse, a wallet, a car stereo, a cellphone, a camera, a GPS, a ruby ring, a diamond necklace, a bracelet and her insurance and registration paperwork, according to police.

After going through her belongings, the men realized that the woman had a 2-year-old daughter, and they threatened her life and the child's life if she said anything to authorities. They then parked the car at Long Lane near Marshall Road, told the woman they would throw the keys under the car and fled on foot, Chitwood said.

After waiting several minutes, the woman got out of the car, grabbed her keys from underneath and drove to her boyfriend's house. Together, they went to the police station around 5:30 a.m., Chitwood said.

Shortly thereafter, two cops who were aware of the rape victim's ordeal responded to a call from a woman who said there was a disturbance at her house on Radbourne Road, Chitwood said.

At the house, police found four teens, two of whom were the resident's sons and one of whom, Kevin Jones, said he was a friend of the sons and stayed at the house so he could attend Upper Darby High School, police said. The fourth teen, Kewon Matthews, said he was a friend of Jones', according to police.

Inside the house, the cops saw a Coach handbag that matched the one stolen from the rape victim, Chitwood said. After confirming with the woman resident that the bag was not hers, police opened it and found the victim's stolen items inside. The victim was brought to the house, where she identified Matthews and Jones, both 17, as two of her attackers, Chitwood said.

After the arrest of Matthews and Jones, police were able to identify the third suspect as Brehon Rawlings, 19, of Yeadon, Chitwood said. Rawlings was found hiding in the bathtub of his home about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

All three men were charged as adults with kidnapping, rape, robbery and related offenses and were being held on $500,000 bail each.

"These guys are truly, truly animals," Chitwood said. "This is the kind of crime that shocks the public consciousness."