Central Park sexual assault suspect arrested at Florida Burger King

A man suspected of sexually assaulting three women in New York City's Central Park was arrested on Tuesday while working at a Burger King in Florida. UPI and the New York Post both reported that 30-year-old Dereck Rivera-Deleon was taken into custody in Miami, with the New York Post adding that the arrest was executed by the New York Police Department alongside the United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force. [1][3]

Authorities stated that Rivera-Deleon is accused of raping a 39-year-old woman at knifepoint in Central Park, according to UPI. Police said that he has also been linked to two additional sexual assaults in the park that occurred in 2021 and 2023. All three incidents involved women who were attacked by a stranger. [1][3]

UPI reported that Rivera-Deleon, a Bronx resident, allegedly fled New York following the October assault and was tracked to Florida. As FTMQ News reported earlier, New York police previously released images of a suspect following an 8:30 p.m. knifepoint attack on a Saturday in late October near East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue. [1][15]

Central Park is an urban park located between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan. It is the most visited urban park in the United States, attracting an estimated 42 million annual visitors. [12][14]