Thread: Restaurant worker charged with Rittenhouse Square rape (update)

Restaurant worker charged with Rittenhouse Square rape

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Police: Stolen Cell Phone Led To Rittenhouse...
Police have identified the suspect arrested for the rape of a woman in the Rittenhouse Square section of the city over the weekend.




JOSEPH A. GAMBARDELLO, ALFRED LUBRANO, AND MARK FAZLOLLAH, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 1:08 AM
POSTED: Tuesday, June 24, 2014, 2:32 PM

A ping from the stolen cellphone of a woman who had been raped in her Rittenhouse Square apartment led police Tuesday to declare the sexual assault solved.

Authorities arrested Milton Mateo Garcia, a 28-year-old kitchen worker from Honduras who is here illegally and had already been deported at least once, on Monday night and charged him with grabbing the woman early Saturday on Spruce Street, forcing her into her own apartment, and raping her.

"For the residents of Rittenhouse Square, we have this guy off the street," said Capt. John Darby, commander of the Special Victims Unit. "You can rest easy today."

He said the brazenness of the attack - that the assailant took her into her apartment without knowing if anyone else was at home - had made police particularly concerned.

Later Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials put out a statement that the agency had "lodged a detainer against" the suspect with Philadelphia police. The suspect - whom they identified as Milton Garcia-Vazquez - "was previously removed from the United States in June 2013."

The detainer allows ICE to assume custody of a suspect once local authorities are done with him.

The statement did not indicate what Garcia-Vazquez had done to merit deportation, and efforts to reach ICE officials were unsuccessful.

The victim, a 26-year-old woman, was returning to her apartment in the 1900 block of Spruce about 1:20 a.m. Saturday when a man who had been riding a bicycle approached her from behind.

Police said the assailant might have followed her after she left Ladder 15, a bar near 15th and Sansom Streets, and started walking home.

He grabbed her, saying, "Shut up, don't say anything," according to Darby.

Then, he said, the assailant forced the woman into the building, took her to her upstairs apartment, and assaulted her.

After fleeing the apartment, he may have gone back in to retrieve an item, Darby said. He added that police also believe "he attacked her a second time."

Afterward, he rode away on his bicycle with the victim's cellphone and keys, officials said.

On Saturday, police tracked a signal from her phone to the neighborhood around Eighth and Morris Streets. There, according to Lt. Anthony McFadden, who led the investigation, basic detective work eventually took them to the suspect's address in the 1800 block of South Eighth.

Detectives questioned three residents of the house and released them.

Then, after developing a sketch of the suspect with the help of the victim, police obtained a search warrant Monday and found the cellphone on the second floor of Garcia's address, McFadden said.

Detectives found her keys on the suspect when they arrested him at one of the restaurants where he works.

Darby said that Garcia made a statement to police. Along with rape, he is charged with kidnapping, burglary, robbery, and other offenses.

Tashan, one of the restaurants where Garcia worked, issued a statement saying he had been a part-time kitchen employee for three months and provided "all appropriate documents" for the job.

"Other than showing up for assigned shifts and performing his limited duties, with no customer interaction, Garcia gave us no reason to suspect he was involved in any criminal activity," according to the statement.

On Garcia's block of two-story brick rowhouses in South Philadelphia Tuesday, residents expressed surprise over the arrest.

Cristian Javier Garcia, 19, not related to the suspect, said in Spanish that he and Milton Garcia lived with seven other Honduran immigrants. Cristian Garcia said Milton Garcia worked nights in a Center City restaurant and was friends with his cousin, who also lives in the house.

Because Milton and Cristian's work shifts did not overlap, the two had limited contact. But Cristian Garcia said he considered Milton Garcia to be "good people."

He said Milton Garcia had lived at the house about a year, and his cousin had been there three years. Cristian Garcia's cousin largely oversees the three-story rowhouse.

John Ferlaino, 66, a retired forklift worker and a neighbor of Garcia's, said the suspect was "always going out at 1 or 2 in the morning on his bike."

An hour before the attack, a man with a bicycle and matching the general description of the assailant exposed himself to a 27-year-old woman at 16th and Pine Streets, police disclosed Tuesday.

Asked about that incident, Darby acknowledged that he was aware of it but did not say if investigators believed it was linked to the rape.

Darby said police are investigating to see if Garcia might be involved in other assaults. Garcia has no criminal record in Philadelphia, Darby said.

The captain said that the attacker's decision to grab the woman on the sidewalk and force her into her own apartment "showed either his boldness or desperation," Darby said. "It was a horrific crime, let's face it." He added, "It was a very unsettling, disturbing assault on a young woman."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...b4L7DDzH66A.99

Don't deport accused Honduran rapist. Give him justice - Philly style.

Milton Mateo-Garcia

John Featherman


POSTED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 1:08 PM

Subhuman filth.

That’s the only way to describe the kind of animal who would allegedly attack and rape a woman not once – but twice.
It doesn’t matter that it happened in Rittenhouse Square – the crown jewel of Philadelphia. The fact that it occurred on prime real estate shouldn’t make it any less of a high profile crime than if it happened, say, in one of Philadelphia’s poorer neighborhoods.

But if the allegations are true about undocumented worker illegal alien Milton Mateo Garcia, then I don’t want him deported.

Not yet that is.

I want him to be detained and held in our jails. I want him to feel justice – Philly style.

And then, if he is ever released from jail, I want him sent back to Honduras.

He’s not the only one.

I want every single illegal immigrant deported from our country.

Now.

I am even willing to pay an additional tax to foot the bill if necessary. How often will you hear a Republican say that?

Whether they are considered peaceful or not, illegal aliens are lawbreakers – every single one of them. If you are working or living here illegally, you have already broken our laws. You will do it again. Illegal aliens are the quintessential recidivists.

Some in Washington in my Republican Party believe they are showing compassion to humanity by creating a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. What they are actually doing is not only selling out their principles, but they are trashing the Constitution. They are spitting in the face of every single legal immigrant who has followed the rules and respected our laws.
Illegal aliens don’t deserve to go to the back of the line. They deserve to go back to their countries – if their countries will even take them.

If Milton Mateo Garcia is eventually found guilty of being the rapist, then there will be one indisputable fact. If he had been deported for a second time before this event occurred, that rape would have never occurred.

Now, there are some good people who dissent with my hardcore line on immigration.

Take A. Charles Peruto, the noted criminal defense attorney. His take?

“A rape is a rape. There are so many illegal immigrants who work their balls off and are disgraced by this guy.” [As an aside Peruto also added that he was very impressed by the police sketch artist.]

Peruto’s opinion is shared by many good people I know.

But I quite frankly don’t care about the opinions of illegal immigrants on anything. Their opinions carry zero weight to me.

Former City Council candidate Joe McColgan mentioned on his Facebook page, “Wonder how the mayor feels now?” referring to Mayor Michael Nutter’s decision to end the ability for federal agents to detain illegal aliens arrested in Philadelphia.

Yes, Mayor Nutter, how do you feel?

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/U...XcTMlP7GGKf.99

Officials: Rape suspect had been caught entering U.S. illegally

[IMG]http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/20140625_prape_2_1024.jpg[/IMG]

Philadelphia police Capt. John Darby, head of the Special Victims Unit, announces the arrest of Milton Mateo-Garcia (pictured on the monitor), 28, a Honduran immigrant living on the 1800 block of S. 8th St., in connection with the Rittenhouse Square rapist case. (CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer)

By Allison Steele and Mark Fazlollah, Inquirer Staff Writers
POSTED: June 26, 2014

The man charged with raping a woman in her Rittenhouse Square apartment last weekend was caught illegally entering the country from Mexico last year, according to customs officials.

No criminal charges were filed against Milton Mateo Garcia at the time, records show. Garcia, whom federal authorities identified as Milton Garcia-Vazquez, is from Honduras and was deported in June 2013, said Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

It is unclear when Garcia returned to the United States, but until this week he had worked in the kitchens of three local restaurants for several months. Tashan, an Indian restaurant on Broad Street, released a statement saying Garcia had presented all required documents before he was hired as a part-time employee.

Philadelphia police sought charges against Garcia this week of rape, burglary, and other offenses. They say he forced a 26-year-old woman into her apartment at 19th and Spruce Streets and assaulted her

ICE officials have lodged a detainer against Garcia, which allows the agency to take him into custody once local authorities are done with him.

When illegal immigrants are first caught illegally entering the country, border agents generally fingerprint them, warn that they will face prison if they return illegally, and send them to their home country. Those from Mexico are usually escorted across the border. Those from Honduras and other countries usually are flown home.

Illegal reentry, which can carry a two-year prison sentence, has become the most commonly recorded lead charge in the federal court system, with nearly 40,000 prosecutions each year, records show.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-06-26/news/50887813_1_u-s-immigration-honduras-criminal-charges

Another one of those nice, wonderful, law abiding immigrants. It is getting pretty hard to accept that there are such.

Thursday, Sep 11, 2014 • Updated at 5:38 PM EDT
By Dan Stamm and Vince Lattanzio

The man accused of hunting down and raping a young doctor inside her Rittenhouse Square apartment remained behind bars Thursday after a Philadelphia judge set a new court date in the case.

Since his arrest in June, Milton Mateo Garcia has been held without bail.

Garcia, 28, stands charged with a bevy of counts related to the June 21 assault. On Thursday, Judge James DeLeon dropped kidnapping for ransom and robbery to inflict serious injury charges but held another 14 charges -- including forcible rape, sexual assault, theft, burglary, aggravated assault and false imprisonment -- for court.

Investigators say the South Philadelphia man followed the victim as she walked home from a bar after a night out with friends.

Surveillance video shows a man, alleged to be Garcia, biking past the woman along the 1900 block of Spruce Street, locking up his cycle and then grabbing her from behind and leading her into an apartment building.

Police say Garcia then forced his way inside and repeatedly raped the doctor before stealing her smartphone and keys. Three days later, police took the restaurant worker into custody. Investigators said they found the victim's smartphone inside a bedroom at Garcia's home and her keys in his pocket when he was taken into custody, detectives said.

A Honduran national, Garcia was removed from the United States in June 2013, according U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division. The agency has lodged a detainer against him to ensure they're notified before he's released from custody.

Detectives with the Special Victims Unit said they looked at whether Garcia was involved in any other assaults.

Garcia will be formal arraigned in October.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...274810431.html

Milton Mateo Garcia
PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT/SOURCE

March 7, 2016
BY DANIEL CRAIG

Man sentenced for brutal Center City assault

A man who is known dubiously as the "Rittenhouse Rapist" was sentenced to decades in prison Monday for brutally assaulting a woman near the Center City park he gets his unfortunate nickname from.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said Milton Mateo Garcia, 28, will spend 22-44 years in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of rape, kidnapping, burglary and related counts in November of last year.

The sentencing comes nearly two years after authorities say Garcia followed a 26-year-old woman to her apartment on Spruce Street near Rittenhouse Square, grabbing her and forcing her into her residence.

It was there prosecutors say Garcia threw the woman -- who was a doctor, according to local media reports from the time -- to the floor and sexually assaulted her.

Garcia left but returned shortly after, again sexually assaulting her and ignoring the victim's pleas to take her belongings and leave her alone, according to authorities.

After the assault, police tried to get the public's help in identifying and finding Garcia by releasing surveillance video and a sketch of his face.

Police were able to track Garcia to his South Philly home days later because he had stolen the victim's cell phone.

His case drew some national attention during the trial because of his status as an illegal immigrant from Honduras.

Some conservative commentators noted that if Garcia was acquitted, a directive from then-Mayor Nutter ordering local law enforcement not to cooperate with federal immigration officials would mean he would go free.

Mayor Nutter reversed that directive making Philly a "sanctuary city" shortly before his tenure ended last year, but new Mayor Jim Kenney quickly reinstated it.

The District Attorney's Office said during testimony, the victim recalled having frequent nightmares and flashbacks to the assault that occurred on June 21, 2014.

She has, however, moved back to the city, returning to work and rebuilding her life, prosecutors say.

http://www.phillyvoice.com/rittenhou...-years-prison/