Police in Philadelphia are on the hunt for a suspect accused of terrorizing citizens while wearing a mask resembling Chucky the doll.
This isn’t child’s play; a suspect is being hunted by authorities after reportedly harassing multiple people in the Philadelphia City Center in the early hours of Wednesday, August 12. Police say the individual threatened and chased around half a dozen victims for a 20-minute period starting at approximately 5:18 AM that morning.
“During that time span, he was able to accost a good many people, most of which haven’t come forward yet,” Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith told the press on Monday, August 17. “He’s targeting men and women, just whoever he appears to come across.”
The suspect was caught on camera chasing a female jogger in the area, with reports claiming he held up his phone in front of her, asking if she was “ready to die.” Captain Smith also stated that the mask-wearing harasser was filming these interactions seemingly for “his own purposes,” and urged anyone victimized by him to come forward.
Speaking to Channel 6 Action News, another victim of the masked tormentor, a woman named Jameka, described how she managed to fend them off with a kick to the chest.
“I figured if anything was going to happen, I wanted to see it with my own two eyes,” she told the outlet. “Then I turned around, I started yelling at him, ‘Don’t follow me,’ and screaming at him. Then at that point, I put up my hands as if I was going to fight. I blocked my face, making sure my center line was protected. And then he also started to put his hands up, but I could tell that he’d never been in a fight before.”
“He just seemed so disoriented about what his goals actually were. I had bags; he wasn’t reaching for those. It didn’t seem like he had a clear goal to like, actually get in La Colombe to do anything, so I was like, ‘Okay, well, let’s see if you can fight’ — and he couldn’t.”
The suspect was caught pulling his facemask down on CCTV. Although much of his face was covered by a black facemask and a black beanie, cameras got a good look at his eyes, an image that local news shared on their networks. Police described the assailant as a male between the ages of 16 – 20 years old. If caught, he will face charges of terroristic threats, harassment, simple assault, reckless endangerment and intimidation.
Image Credits: Channel 6 Action News
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
