PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Police have identified the man who was wearing a doll-like mask and allegedly terrorized people near City Hall.
Law enforcement has issued an arrest warrant for Zymire Hughes, 22, saying he may have left Pennsylvania and has ties to California and Nevada, WCAU reported.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has asked anyone who knows Hughes’ whereabouts to call the authorities.
“You think it’s funny to scare people? Well, get ready to get scared by us because we got the handcuffs,” Krasner said. “We got the jail cell. We got the Philly jury that’s going to tell you it’s not funny at all. You think it’s funny to make people run? Get your sneaks. Because that’s what Zymire Hughes is doing right now. Mr. ‘big and bad’ is on the run. We’re not having it in this city. We are not tolerating it,” Krasner said on Thursday during a news conference.
Hughes is accused of terrorizing several people in the early morning of Aug. 12 in Philadelphia’s Center City.
Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith said in one instance, Hughes threatened a man who was crouching down and had his hands up in a “pleading motion.”
Police said Hughes approached a woman who was jogging, repeatedly asking her, " Are you ready to die?"
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In all, he confronted about 15 people.
At one point, two SEPTA police officers saw Hughes and told him to remove the doll mask. When he did, he still had a surgical mask underneath. Officers pursued Hughes, but he got away before returning to his apartment. He was captured on video entering the building while not wearing the mask, WPVI said.
He did not touch anyone in the confrontations, and it was believed that Hughes was making social media content.
“I believe that he was doing this purely for social media content - either A, for his own sick personal amusement, or B, he had plans of posting it online at some point, and possibly monetizing it,” Smith said, according to WPVI.
“There wasn’t an attempt by himself to lay hands on anyone. He didn’t brandish any weapon,” Smith said. “Although in the case of the jogger, he did have his right arm behind his back, implying that he had a weapon. But at no point in time did he furnish a weapon. To the best of our knowledge, there were no other injured parties, other than the jogger.”
Hughes is charged with felony and misdemeanor aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, among others, police said.
Police in Philadelphia are working with the U.S. Marshals Service to return Hughes to Pennsylvania, WPVI reported.
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