MIAMI -- Police are searching for a knife-wielding man who attacked a woman near a South Florida bus stop Thursday morning.

According to Miami-Dade police, the attack happened at about 4 a.m. Thursday near Northwest 62nd Street and 22nd Avenue.

Police said a 33-year-old woman was walking from a bus stop when a man with a large knife approached her. The man put the knife to her back and took her to a dark area, where he sexually assaulted her, police said.

The attacker then stole the woman's purse and ran away.

The incident was strikingly similar to two recently sexual assaults in the City of Miami.

The first one happened on Oct. 31st on Virginia Street, near Southwest 32nd Avenue in Coconut Grove. Police said a man dressed wearing a black scull cap and black bandana raped a woman at gunpoint as she entered her apartment building.

Three weeks later, on Nov. 21st, on Mary Street and Southwest 32nd Avenue in Coconut Grove, a man wearing black scull cap and red bandana forced his way inside a woman’s car and raped her at gunpoint.

In all three cases, the suspects used weapons and stole something from their victims.

Police are aware of the similarities but they aren’t prepared to say a serial rapist is on the hunt.

“We don’t want to assume, should this be a copy cat case, and be a completely different subject," said Miami-Dade Police Det. Roy Rutland . "We want to make sure we have the evidence that we need and we need to identify whether or not this is the same guy or somebody different."

It's unclear if the City of Miami Police was able to collect the suspect's DNA from the victims in the first two attacks.

Police are searching for a light-skinned black man in his early 20s who is about 5 feet 7 inches tall with a thin build. The attacker wore a black cap and bandana.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).