Man arrested in Miami Beach over Central Park rape case

The NYPD says it has arrested a man in Florida who is suspected of raping a woman at knifepoint in Central Park on Oct. 24. Police identified him on Tuesday as Dereck Rivera-Deleon.

According to police, the 39-year-old victim was attacked near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. They say the suspect threatened her with a knife and forced her into a wooded area, where he assaulted her.

After the U.S. Marshals Service made contact, Miami Beach Police detectives learned that Rivera-Deleon had recently arrived in South Florida and was working at a Burger King on Washington Avenue. NYPD detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force took him into custody at the restaurant. Burger King said in a statement that he had worked for the company "for less than two weeks" and was no longer employed there.

Police say he is expected to be charged in two other Central Park rapes, one from October 2023 and one from July 2021. Investigators said victims positively identified him and that DNA evidence connected him to the cases. Police also said he did not know any of the alleged victims.

Rivera-Deleon was being held in Florida pending extradition to New York. Information about an attorney was not immediately available, and it was unclear when he might be extradited. He has not been convicted of any crime.

NYPD records show the October attack was the fifth reported sexual assault in the park this year. People in the park on Tuesday told NBC New York they were concerned, and one woman said she wanted more police presence in the evening.