A man wanted in connection with three sexual assaults in New York City’s Central Park over a five-year period was arrested Tuesday while working at a Burger King in Miami Beach, Florida, authorities said.
Dereck Rivera-Deleon, 30, was apprehended at the fast-food restaurant in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue during a coordinated operation involving the NYPD, U.S. Marshals Service and Miami Beach police.
“The NYPD will stop at nothing to get dangerous criminals off our streets,” the department said in a post on X.
Dereck Rivera-Deleon was arrested Tuesday while working at a Miami Burger King in connection with the alleged Oct. 24 rape of a woman in Central Park. (Miami Beach Police)
Authorities said investigators found Rivera-Deleon in South Florida after he recently relocated there and started working at the restaurant.
His arrest stemmed from an investigation into a rape reported near the eastern side of Central Park on Oct. 24.
An extraditable warrant related to that assault was issued Monday.
According to police, officers responded around 8:30 p.m. after receiving a report of an attack near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Police had been seeking Rivera-Deleon after a woman reported that she was raped in Central Park on Oct. 24. (NYPD)
The 39-year-old woman told investigators that a man threatened her with a knife, forced her into a wooded area of the park and raped her before escaping, police said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani previously called the reported attack “horrific.”
Miami Beach police said DNA evidence and victim identifications also linked Rivera-Deleon to alleged sexual assaults in Central Park in 2021 and 2023. He is expected to face charges related to those cases as well.
Police said the 39-year-old woman was attacked on Oct. 24 after a man allegedly threatened her with a knife, led her into a wooded area and raped her. (FNTV)
“When violent offenders flee to evade justice, we will ensure there is no corner of the country where they can hide,” Ricky J. Patel, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Rivera-Deleon was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in South Florida. He remains held without bond as he awaits extradition proceedings that would return him to New York to face sexual assault charges.
