NAYZE MEDIA (STAFF)
LOCAL: PHILLY/SOUTH JERSEY
Cover Photo Courtesy: 6 ABC Action News
49-year old Willie Harris, who was wanted for raping a woman in a law office inside of a Center City Philadelphia Office Building on Tuesday afternoon, was reportedly apprehended in South Jersey yesterday. A 6 ABC Action News report said, Harris’ arrest was made in Gloucester County, New Jersey, at around 11 p.m. on Thursday night.
Washington Township Police, who was credited with making the arrest, credited social media and an alert nurse for helping identify Harris.
“We posted the social media post around 9 p.m., and he was in custody by 11 p.m.”, said Washington Township Police Chief, Patrick Gurcisik.
Washington Township Police posted Harris’ photograph on their social media pages after receiving calls that the wanted man out of Philly, had been spotted on Egg Harbor Road near the Xpress Mart. Investigators rushed to the location, but did not find Harris. After checking surveillance videos from the business, detectives confirmed that the suspect had previously been at the store. That was when police posted the “be on the lookout for…” message on their social media pages. The post was reportedly shared thousands of times on social media.
Within an hour of the post, police received a call from a nurse at Jefferson Washington Township Hospital. She told police she believed the suspect (or person fitting the description of the suspect) had been at the hospital getting treated, and he’d just been released. Police rushed to the hospital, where they found Harris sitting on a bench outside of the hospital. Police took him into custody without incident.
Harris will reportedly be detained in New Jersey until he is extradited back to Philadelphia to face the rape charges he’s accused of committing.
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