A brave Philadelphia woman confronted man wearing a Chucky-esque mask who was harassing women outside City Hall by planting a foot in their chest.
Jameka, who asked that her last name not be used, told ABC7 earlier this week that she witnessed the man harassing a woman. The suspect had been running around the blocks of City Hall and antagonizing local citizens since at least 5:18 a.m. on August 12. Surveillance footage also showed him chasing a jogger.
The suspect was turned away from a Dunkin' Donuts on 15th and Chestnut after exhibiting erratic behavior, then ventured further through the neighborhood. He reportedly chased a man in a reflective safety vest near Dilworth Plaza before targeting a female jogger on the east side of 15th Street at 5:33 a.m and asked if she was “ready to die,” per FOX 29.
As Jameka shared with ABC7, she tried to get the runner’s attention by waving her hands across from the intersection. Eventually, the mask-clad man attempted to enter a La Colombe shop, to which Jameka prepared herself to fight.
"I figured if anything was going to happen, I wanted to see it with my own two eyes,” she said before describing the man’s uncertainty.
"He just seemed so disoriented about what his goals actually were. I had bags; he wasn't reaching for those,” she said. “It didn't seem like he had a clear goal to like actually get in La Colombe to do anything, so I was like OK, well, let's see if you can fight — and he couldn't."
Jameka responded to his hesitancy by kicking the man in his chest and calling him a coward, as seen in a now-viral news interview, per TMZ. Yes, Jameka even shows her kicking form.
Although the man targeted roughly six people, the jogger was the only victim to formally come forward with police. Investigators theorize the suspect may have been recording the encounters on his cellphone for social media. Authorities are also exploring whether the incidents were staged as a social media prank.
Police have since released photos showing the suspect without the doll mask, though he was wearing a surgical mask in those images and was seen holding the Chucky mask. Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith said charges including terroristic threats, harassment, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and intimidation are pending once the suspect is apprehended, per ABC7NY.
