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A man suspected in three sexual assaults spanning five years in New York City’s Central Park was arrested Tuesday at a Burger King in Miami Beach, Florida, authorities said.
Dereck Rivera-Deleon, 30, was taken into custody during an operation involving the NYPD, U.S. Marshals Service and Miami Beach police at a fast-food restaurant in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue.
“The NYPD will stop at nothing to get dangerous criminals off our streets,” police said on X.
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Investigators located Rivera-Deleon in South Florida, where he had recently arrived and obtained employment at the restaurant, according to authorities.
The arrest followed an investigation into an Oct. 24 rape reported near Central Park’s eastern edge in Manhattan.
An extraditable warrant was issued Monday in connection with the Oct. 24 assault.
Police said the attack happened at about 8:30 p.m. that night, when officers responded to a report of an assault near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue.
The 39-year-old victim told investigators she was approached by a man who threatened her with a knife, forced her into a wooded section of the park and raped her before fleeing, according to police.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani previously described the attack as a “horrific” act.
Investigators also connected Rivera-Deleon to alleged sexual assaults in Central Park in 2021 and 2023 through DNA evidence and victim identifications, according to Miami Beach police. Authorities said he is expected to face charges in connection with both earlier incidents.
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“When violent offenders flee to evade justice, we will ensure there is no corner of the country where they can hide,” Ricky J. Patel, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Rivera-Deleon was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in South Florida. He is being held without bond pending extradition proceedings to send him to New York to face sexual assault charges.
