Man in Chucky-Style Mask Arrested in Las Vegas After Philadelphia Chase
Zymire Hughes is accused of chasing a jogger while wearing a horror-movie mask in Center City before fleeing to Nevada, authorities say.
A man accused of wearing a creepy, Chucky-style mask while harassing people in Philadelphia was arrested in Las Vegas, authorities said Tuesday.
Zymire Hughes was taken into custody by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Offender Task Force, the service said in a statement.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said last week that the arrest warrant stemmed from allegations of felony and misdemeanor assault after a masked man chased a jogger, asked, "Do you want to die?" and caused her to suffer injuries as she fled early last Wednesday in Center City. Krasner said additional charges were possible and would be detailed after the suspect's arrest.
Booking records from the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada show Hughes in custody with no bail, with a hearing before a judge scheduled for Thursday morning. It was not immediately clear whether he has legal counsel.
Police allege Hughes approached more than a dozen people in Center City before fleeing after the encounter with the jogger. He fled again, police said, after regional transit officers in a train station confronted him and told him to remove the mask.
Investigators said they traced the suspect through security camera footage that led to an apartment building where Hughes reportedly lives. Three people identified the masked man as Hughes, police said at a news conference last week.
The mask resembles the killer doll from the "Child's Play" horror franchise. Police believe the man may have engaged in similar behavior before and asked any other potential victims to come forward.
Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith said police were tipped off days after the Center City incidents that the suspect had packed his bags and left his apartment.
Krasner said Hughes is on probation for an unspecified crime in nearby Montgomery County. Smith said the suspect maintains two TikTok accounts and one Instagram account, and Krasner said he wore the mask to draw attention to his online presence.
"We're not having it in this city," Krasner said of the behavior. "We are not tolerating it."
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