A 30-year-old man accused of carrying out a string of sexual assaults in Central Park dating back to 2021 has been arrested in Florida, authorities announced on Tuesday.
Dereck Rivera-Deleon was taken into custody while working at a Burger King in Miami, according to statements from the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force. Rivera-Deleon was booked into Miami-Dade County Corrections on Tuesday as an out-of-state fugitive awaiting extradition proceedings, jail records show.
Authorities allege that Rivera-Deleon, who has an address in the Bronx, is responsible for an October assault on a 39-year-old woman as well as two earlier attacks inside the landmark Manhattan park.
Discrepancies in recent attack timeline
Police accounts of the latest incident vary slightly regarding the timing and location. According to NBC News, officials said a 39-year-old woman was pulled into a wooded area near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue around 9 p.m. on Oct. 24 and assaulted at knifepoint. The New York Post reported that the attack occurred near East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 26. Following the assault, the victim was taken to a hospital in stable condition, the Post reported.
Investigators released surveillance images and video shortly after the attack showing the assailant fleeing in dark clothing, including a black hooded jacket, black pants and a dark backpack, carrying earbuds in his hands.
Earlier assaults and park patrols
The arrest links Rivera-Deleon to two additional unsolved Central Park rapes that occurred in 2021 and 2023, the NYPD said in a statement. In that release, the department said it “will stop at nothing to get dangerous criminals off our streets.”
The incident was the fifth reported sexual assault in Central Park since the start of the year, an increase from three rapes recorded during the same period in the prior year, according to police department crime figures cited by the New York Post.
In response to the assault, the NYPD deployed additional officers throughout the area. In a public advisory, officials urged visitors to remain vigilant: “The NYPD has increased patrols in Central Park. As with any part of the city, we remind everyone to always be aware of their surroundings and to remain vigilant.”
What comes next
Federal law enforcement officials highlighted the multistate effort required to locate and detain the suspect. “When violent offenders flee to evade justice, we will ensure there is no corner of the country where they can hide,” said Ricky J. Patel, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York, in a statement.
Rivera-Deleon remains in custody in Florida pending an extradition hearing to return him to New York to face criminal charges. It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Rivera-Deleon had secured legal representation.
