‘They have to be punished': Brooklyn man sues NYPD after beating in liquor store

Authorities arrested a man in Florida suspected of raping a woman at knifepoint in Central Park in October, and he also appears to be connected to two other rapes that happened inside the famous park since 2021, the NYPD said.

The NYPD had been looking for the suspect, whom they identified Tuesday as Dereck Rivera-Deleon, since the Oct. 24 attack on a 39-year-old woman near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Rivera-Deleon threatened the victim with a knife before forcing her into a wooded area, where he assaulted her, according to police.

After being contacted by the U.S. Marshals Service, detectives with the Miami Beach Police Department learned Rivera-Deleon had recently arrived in South Florida and had been working at a Burger King on Washington Avenue, police said.

NYPD detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force took Rivera-Deleon into custody while he was working at the fast food chain. Burger King said in a statement that Rivera-Deleon had worked for the company “for less than two weeks” and was no longer employed with them.

In addition to the Oct. 24, 2026, attack, he is expected to be charged with two Central Park rapes dating back to Oct. 2023 and July 2021, respectively. Investigators said victims positively identified Rivera-Deleon, and DNA evidence connected him to the cases.

Rivera-Deleon did not know any of his alleged victims, police said.

Information on a possible attorney for Rivera-Deleon wasn’t immediately available, nor was it clear when he might be extradited to face charges in New York. He was being held in Florida, pending extradition to New York.

Those in Central Park on Tuesday, meanwhile, expressed concern after the late-October assault.

“You should be safe to walk into the park and enjoy the beauty of Central Park. It is everybody’s backyard,” one woman said after the attack. “I wish there was more police presence in the park. During the day, I don’t find it necessary, but in the evening I think it is.”

“Obviously, nobody wants like a hundred police officers around you constantly to ensure that you’re safe. It should be a given,” another woman in the park said.

The weekend attack was the fifth reported sexual assault in the park this year, according to NYPD records.

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