Masked Philadelphia assault suspect arrested in Las Vegas

A 22-year-old man accused of frightening and chasing people near Philadelphia City Hall while wearing a Chucky-style mask was arrested Tuesday night in Las Vegas, authorities said.

Zymire Hughes was taken into custody around 8 p.m. at an apartment complex in southeast Las Vegas by members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force. He is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center while awaiting extradition to Philadelphia, according to authorities and jail booking information. A court hearing in Nevada was scheduled for Thursday morning.

Philadelphia authorities have accused Hughes of harassing, chasing or threatening people in Center City early Aug. 12, during a roughly 15-minute episode near City Hall. Police said the mask resembled Chucky, the killer doll from the “Child’s Play” horror movie franchise.

“By hiding behind a Chucky-style Halloween mask, Hughes terrorized Philadelphia residents and believed he could evade law enforcement. He was wrong,” Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal for the Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force, said in a statement. “His arrest should send a clear message: you can hide your face, but you can’t hide from the elite investigators of the U.S. Marshal Service.”

Clark said Hughes has been charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and related offenses. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said last week that the warrant was based on allegations of felony and misdemeanor assault. He said additional charges were possible and would be detailed after Hughes’ arrest.

Police said the encounters began around 5:18 a.m. at 15th and Chestnut streets, where Hughes allegedly ran up to multiple people in an apparent attempt to scare and antagonize them. About two minutes later, investigators said, he entered a Dunkin’ on the 1500 block of Chestnut Street but was refused service because he was wearing the mask.

Hughes then left and was seen on camera running toward people near the southwest corner of Penn Square at City Hall around 5:25 a.m., police said. Authorities said he chased a man on the west side of 15th Street, then approached a woman jogging at 15th and Market streets.

According to police, Hughes stopped in front of the woman and asked, “Are you ready to die?” Krasner described the alleged statement as, “Do you want to die?” Authorities said the woman ran away and injured her leg as she fled.

CBS News reported that Hughes allegedly chased and threatened at least six people. NBC News reported that police alleged he approached more than a dozen people before fleeing after his interaction with the jogger.

Police said Hughes fled to Suburban Station after the threats. NBC News reported that he fled again after regional transit police contacted him in a train station and told him to remove his mask.

Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith previously said Hughes appeared to be filming the incidents with a cellphone light on. Smith also said the suspect had two TikTok accounts and one Instagram account. Krasner said Hughes wore the mask to draw people to his online presence.

“We’re not having it in this city,” Krasner said of the alleged conduct. “We are not tolerating it.”

Authorities said investigators used security cameras to follow a trail to an apartment building where they say Hughes lives. Three people identified the masked suspect as Hughes, police said at a news conference last week.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Hughes had been a Las Vegas resident since February but has family in Philadelphia and was believed to have been in the city for a few weeks. Authorities said he left Philadelphia on Aug. 19, flying from Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing, New Jersey, to Orlando, Florida, before taking another flight to Las Vegas.

Krasner said Hughes is on probation for an unspecified crime in Montgomery County. It was not clear Tuesday night whether Hughes had obtained a lawyer; public defender offices in Clark County and Philadelphia did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment after regular business hours.