(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia Police are investigating the connection of an alleged rape of a woman in Center City Street Friday morning and a series of attacks involving a suspect with a bizarre fetish.

Authorities said the victim, a woman in her 20s, was walking in the 1700 block of Panama Street at about 2:45 a.m. when she was attacked by an unknown male armed with a knife.

She was beaten, physically struck multiple times in the face, Philadelphia Police Captain John Darby said.

Police said the victim was beaten, raped and robbed before the suspect sucked on her toes. She notified police and was taken to Thomas Jefferson Hospital to be evaluated.

Police said the assault had striking similarities to series of robberies and attacks in the Center City and Rittenhouse Square area where the suspect also sucked on his victims' toes.

There was some contact with the complainants feet, Darby said. That was one component that, in the past, helped to identify the previous pattern.

The last attack by the foot fetish suspect was reported in January. Police said the suspect in the latest assault was taller and larger than descriptions of the foot fetish suspect.

The suspect in the Panama Street assault also used a knife, whereas a gun was used in previous incidents. Investigators are awaiting DNA evidence to seen if the crimes are related.

Authorities said the attack does not appear to be related to a sexual assault in Germantown Friday morning or the sexual assault of an elderly woman in Olney on June 5.

Anyone with information on these attacks is urged to contact Philadelphia Police.