The woman, 34, told police that she parked in a lot near Bells Mill Road and Forbidden Drive about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. She got out of her car and was getting ready to start her jog when a man came up from behind her and pressed an object against her back, saying, "Don't scream, I have a gun."
The man forced the woman into woods near Wissahickon Creek and raped her, police said. The woman said she never saw a weapon.
After the man ran off, the woman drove herself to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where she was treated.
Darby said the woman was so distraught that she had not yet been able to speak to Special Victims Unit detectives. She told police in her initial interview that she did not know her attacker's age, race, or height.
"From the victim's account, she was approached from behind and never was able to take sight of the individual," Darby said.
She said her assailant wore dirty jeans, brown work boots, and white gardening-type gloves. His voice was "gruff" and he smelled of garlic, Darby said.
That part of Fairmount Park is typically far from deserted on summer nights, and police are asking anyone who was in the vicinity to contact them. Authorities are also looking into whether surveillance cameras captured anything.
In the meantime, the park will have an increased police presence.
"We don't want to discourage anyone from using the park area," Darby said, "but we do want to urge people to use caution."
The attack Tuesday took place two years to the day from the last known assault by the Fairmount Park rapist in a city park.
All of his victims were alone when he attacked them. His assaults began July 13, 2003, when he raped and strangled Rebecca Park, 30, a fourth-year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her battered body was found in a shallow grave covered with leaves about 30 feet from a trail near Conshohocken Avenue.
After raping two other women that year, the attacker disappeared for four years, until his DNA was linked to the Aug. 11, 2007, rape of a 29-year-old woman in Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia.
Police have described that rapist as muscular and dark-complected with a short jawline, goatee, and bushy eyebrows.
Anyone with information about the Tuesday rape can leave an anonymous tip at 215-685-3251 or -3252.
Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 215-854-2641 or asteele@phillynews.com.
Staff writer Sam Wood contributed to this article.
