Police say Dereck Rivera-Deleon is connected to rape investigations in Central Park dating from 2021 through October 2026.
NEW YORK — A man sought in the reported rape of a woman at knifepoint in Central Park last month was arrested Tuesday in Miami, and New York City police said he is also expected to face charges in two other rape cases in the park dating back several years.
Police identified the suspect as Dereck Rivera-Deleon. NYPD detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force took him into custody Nov. 10 with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to police. Authorities said Rivera-Deleon was working at a Burger King in Miami when he was arrested. Police have not said when he will be returned to New York.
The arrest grew out of the investigation into an Oct. 24 attack on a 39-year-old woman in Central Park. Police said the woman was walking in the park near East 67th Street and East Drive at about 8:30 p.m. when a man approached her, displayed a knife and sexually assaulted her. The assailant then fled. The woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Investigators released surveillance images and video as they searched for the man after the October attack. The case prompted an increased police presence in Central Park and a wider search for the suspect. More than two weeks later, investigators located Rivera-Deleon in Florida, according to the NYPD.
Police said Tuesday that Rivera-Deleon is also expected to be charged in two other rapes reported in Central Park, one in 2023 and another in 2021. The department did not release details about those earlier cases, including the dates, locations inside the park or circumstances of the alleged assaults. Police also did not explain publicly what evidence investigators say connects Rivera-Deleon to the three cases.
The NYPD said Rivera-Deleon did not know the women involved in the alleged attacks. Authorities have not released additional information about the earlier victims, and their identities have not been made public. The allegations remain subject to the criminal court process, and the arrest does not establish guilt.
The October case came amid increased attention to reported sexual assaults in Central Park. NYPD statistics for the Central Park Precinct showed five reported rapes through Oct. 25 this year, compared with three during the same period in 2025. Police have said arrests had been made in three of the five rape cases reported in the park this year. Those figures describe reported crimes and do not by themselves indicate the outcome of individual investigations or prosecutions.
The October assault also prompted city officials to condemn the attack and police to increase patrols in the park. Investigators continued distributing images of the man they were seeking before announcing Rivera-Deleon’s arrest Tuesday. The cross-state arrest brought the immediate search to an end while opening the next phase of the case: his transfer to New York and the filing of charges tied to the three investigations.
Authorities had not announced Tuesday when Rivera-Deleon would be brought back to New York, and court records detailing the charges were not immediately available in the reports reviewed. Police have also not released further information about the 2021 and 2023 allegations.
Author note: Last updated November 10, 2026.