A 32-year-old South Philadelphia man is facing charges of breaking into houses blocks from his own and sexually assaulting women inside in March and May.
Police said they arrested Raheem Felder, of Chadwick Street near Wharton in South Philadelphia, on Thursday after detectives received an anonymous tip call May 28 from a TV news viewer who recognized him in surveillance video in a May 25 attack released by police.
Felder is charged with aggravated assault, rape, sexual assault, burglary, robbery, unlawful restraint, indecent exposure, simple assault, reckless endangerment and false imprisonment, according to police. He is accused of twice breaking into homes in his neighborhood and sexually assaulting women inside.
In the more recent attack with which Felder is charged, police said a 35-year-old woman was awoken by a stranger standing over her bed about 5:30 a.m. May 25 as she slept in her house on Rosewood Street near Moore. The man, police said, covered the woman's mouth with his hand and demanded money. He then sexually assaulted her and stole $10, along with her car and house keys, police said.
Felder is also charged in a March 26 incident in which police said a 30-year-old woman was awoken by an unknown man about 3 a.m. inside a house on Chadwick Street near Morris. In that attack, the man forced the woman into the middle bedroom and demanded that she give him money, police said. When the victim told him she had no money, he attempted to sexually assault her before leaving the house and fleeing, according to police.
Court records show that Felder, who was released from prison in November 2013 after being convicted of aggravated assault and attempted murder in connection with a 2001 shooting, was arraigned on Friday. A judge set his bail at $2 million -- $1 million for each attack -- and he is scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing July 10.
