On 12 th August 2026, a woman jogging at dawn in Center City Philadelphia is confronted by a masked man who looks like a character called Chucky, with a split face, who approaches her and holds cell phone to her ear and asks “Are you ready to die?” and demands money.
She took off screaming for help. In the scramble she injured her leg. Police say the suspect chased her before peeling off and vanishing into SEPTA’s Suburban Station minutes later.
That encounter was the most serious moment in a roughly 15-to-20-minute spree that began around 5:18 a.m. near 15th and Chestnut streets. According to Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith, the thin-built young man approached pedestrians while holding a phone with the light on, appearing to record. He tried to scare or antagonize people at random.
At approximately 5:20 a. m. , he entered a Dunkin’s on the 1500 block of Chestnut where staff denied him service due to his full face mask and agitated behavior. He briefly removed his mask before walking out of the restaurant. At 5:25 a. m. , cameras captured images of the suspect near the southwest corner of 15 th and South Penn Square by City Hall. Again, the unidentified man was chasing after individuals, first in a reflective vest and then a jogger. At 5:33 a. m. , the man cornered the jogger on the east side of 15 th Street near Market. Surveillance videos show that the suspect stood behind the jogger, pulled out his cell phone, asking her the death question before suddenly walking away and heading back northbound towards the Center City. He was captured again on camera this time at the escalators of Suburban Station where he arrived at 5:35 a. m.
The police are yet to confirm how many people the suspect interacted with throughout his five-mile patrol of the city. However, one of the many victims who happened to be a jogger has reported the encounter.
An eyewitness whose identity was not revealed in the newspaper named Jameka described seeing the masked suspect following the jogger before jumping out to warn her. In an interview with the press, Jameka said that she confronted the man after seeing him turn around and walk back, gesturing with his hands as if asking her to reveal his intentions.
“He seemed so confused about what he wanted to do with us,”
She said.
“I thought, okay, well, let’s see if you can fight,”
Jameka added before asking the man to step forward.
“He couldn’t do it,”
she continued.
“He ran away.”
Another runner, Luanda Marinho, recounted a separate encounter with a friend near 12th and Chestnut.
“He’s like wanna race me? But I’m faster than you guys. Let’s race,”
She said he told them. They ignored him.
“It was just weird, like some twisted game.”
Investigators describe the suspect as a Black male, medium complexion, thin build, about 5-foot-8, ages 16 to 20. He wore dark clothing, a distinctive white Chucky/baby-doll Halloween mask with black hair, and a black-and-blue plaid backpack. At one point he pulled the doll mask down, revealing a black covering over the lower part of his face. No weapon appeared on video, though he sometimes kept one hand behind his back. Police released surveillance photos and video matching images that later circulated on social media, including a viral post from the account @PicturesFoIder.
Capt. Smith said the department’s intelligence unit is scouring social media in case the suspect uploaded any of his own recordings.
“It’s unclear if the encounters were part of a social media trend,”
Smith noted. Potential charges include terroristic threats, simple assault, harassment, reckless endangerment, and intimidation. The man’s identity and motive remain unknown. There is no confirmed evidence this was a planned TikTok, YouTube, or social-media prank.
Anyone who encountered him or has information should contact Philadelphia police at 215-686-TIPS. If you see him, do not approach call 911 immediately.
