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Police seek suspect in three knifepoint rapes in Kensington

Police are searching for a man suspected of sexually assaulting three women at knifepoint last month in Kensington. The attacks took place along the Kensington Avenue corridor, which at this time last year was the focus of an intense hunt for the so-called Kensington Strangler.

Police are searching for a man suspected of sexually assaulting three women at knifepoint last month in Kensington.

The attacks took place along the Kensington Avenue corridor, which at this time last year was the focus of an intense hunt for the so-called Kensington Strangler.

The women in the recent attacks sustained no injuries other than the sexual assaults, Philadelphia Capt. John Darby, of the Special Victims Unit, said Tuesday. But police are concerned the attacks might continue.

The first assault was about 6:30 a.m. Nov. 15 near the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue. A woman, 26, told police that she got into a man's car and that they drove to an unknown location, where he sexually assaulted her while wielding a knife.

On Nov. 22, a woman, 32, told police she was forced into a car in the 1900 block of Harold Street about 7:30 a.m. and attacked.

Police recently received a report of another assault shortly after midnight Nov. 22, near Kensington and Allegheny Avenues.

The man is Hispanic, police said, in his mid-30s, and stands about 5-feet-8. He is short and heavy, clean-shaven, with dark hair, and tattoos on both forearms, police said. He drives a white Volkswagen Jetta with the license plate HVD-5131.

Police have traced the car to someone in Norristown, Darby said, but detectives are not certain if the owner of the car is the assailant they are looking for.

Darby urged anyone with information to contact police.

"We're trying to get a violent offender off the streets," he said, "and all victims and all information is important to us."

Antonio Rodriguez, the accused Kensington Strangler, allegedly targeted drug-addicted women who were working as prostitutes in the area. Rodriguez was ultimately charged and is awaiting trial in the deaths of three women raped and killed between November and December 2010.

Anyone with information in the recent assaults is asked to call 911 or the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3252.