A Buffalo man has been arrested and charged with raping a college student in broad daylight earlier this month in Hillery Park. The suspect, Timothy DiCenzo, 33, faces charges of first-degree rape and first-degree robbery for a violent incident that took place behind a parking lot just before noon on November 3.
"Today, a violent predator has been taken off the streets of our city," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at a news conference Monday afternoon in Niagara Square.
DiCenzo was picked up for questioning by A District police on the night of November 10. Buffalo Police commissioner Daniel Derenda says DiCenzo is the same man who jumped out of a third-story window at police headquarters last week, landing on a sidewalk on Franklin Street.
"He was taken to police headquarters. He was interviewed by sex offense detectives. At one point, he invoked his right to counsel. While conferring with the district attorney's office, the detectives was on the phone in another room, the suspect jumped out the third-story window of Buffalo Police headquarters. He sustained several injuries. He is still in ECMC with those injuries," Derenda said.
Derenda says DNA evidence links DiCenzo to the Hillery Park rape.
DiCenzo also faces charges of forcible touching, harassment and criminal mischief from a 2014 incident and charges relating to his attempted escape from police custody. Police are also looking at "several" other cases from prior years they believe DiCenzo may be involved in.
WBFO's Mike Desmond contributed to this report.
