NEWS INFORMATION FROM |
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THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE |
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN CHRISTMAS WEEKEND ROBBERIES & SEXUAL ASSAULTHarrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that Harrisburg Police have arrested 19-year old Reginald Paul Thomas Jr. in connection with two robberies and a sexual assault that occurred on Sunday, December 26 in the midtown area. Thomas was released from Dauphin County Prison in October, 2004 after serving 2 ½ months for a drug possession conviction, and was again arrested on December 30, 2004, by Lower Paxton Township Police on unrelated robbery charges. He was being held in the Dauphin County Prison on those charges when city police officers arrested him today in connection with his Harrisburg crimes. Reed said Thomas first robbed a male victim at knife point near 2nd and Maclay Streets around 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, December 26. Less than a half-hour later and again at knife point, he sexually assaulted a female victim in the 200 block of Hamilton Street and then robbed her and another female victim. The Mayor said Thomas has been the subject of an intensive manhunt by city police, which included a special undercover unit formed to blanket the neighbor- hood where the incidents took place in the belief that the perpetrator lived some- where nearby. Police conducted extensive canvassing and around-the-clock surveillance in the area during the past week, though the effort was kept confidential to prevent the suspect from being alerted and fleeing. Reed said the effort proved successful when an anonymous tipster helped identify the suspect and his likely residence in the 1900 block of Green Street, within several blocks of both incidents and where evidence from the two robberies has since been recovered by police. The knife used in the attacks has also been recovered. Thomas was taken from Dauphin County Prison this morning and charged by city police with 5 cts. of Robbery, 4 cts. of Kidnapping, 2 cts. each of Terrorist Threats and Unlawful Restraint, and 1 ct. each of Attempted Rape, Burglary, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Indecent Assault . He was arraigned today and will be placed back in Dauphin County Prison this evening on $225,000 bail. “The suspect has distinguished himself as a dangerous repeat offender who, like too many others, are released from prison and placed right back into our neighborhoods where they simply continuing preying upon the public,” said the Mayor. “His brutality in these crimes provides clear evidence of his inability to be released into the general public or function in a normal society, and we are hopeful the courts fully recognize this when he is punished for his crimes. ” Reed publicly thanked the anonymous tipster for their assistance in helping identify the suspect, as well as the work of city police investigators who worked tirelessly on the case since it was first reported. |
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