NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- An Ecuadorian national was arrested Tuesday in connection with last week's sex attack on a 13-year-old girl who was tied up and raped at machete-point inside Kissena Park in Flushing, the NYPD said, after a group of community members found him and "held him" until police arrived.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the suspect is Christian Inga, 25, of Corona. He's from Ecuador and entered the U.S. through Eagle Pass, Texas, on June 25, 2021. He's said to have two children, including a child he crossed the border with who is now six years old.
He faces a long list of charges, including rape, robbery, kidnapping, sex abuse, menacing, unlawful imprisonment, acting in a manner injurious to a child, and criminal possession of a weapon.
The apprehension was thanks to numerous tips from people on social media and in the community who recognized him from "crystal clear" surveillance video released by the NYPD on Monday, officials said. But it ultimately came down to members of the community pouncing on him in a "chaotic scene" in Corona early Tuesday morning.
Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, police received 911 calls from community members directing them to 108th Street and Waldron Street. "Here, we found the community was holding our perp," Kenny said. "At the time the community was trying to hold the perpetrator, waiting for the police. He fought with them, and the community still managed to hold onto him until we got there."
Kenny said at least "10 neighborhood people" were involved in apprehending him and that they appear to have used a belt "to try to keep him from running away."
"Everybody knew who we were looking for, we had tips coming in actually naming the perpetrator," Kenny said. "So they knew who he was when they saw him out on the street, they tried to detain him, they called 911. He began to fight back as the community was trying to retain him, and he suffered some minor injuries while the community was holding him."
Inga has no prior arrests in New York State, but he does have three summonses, as well as a domestic violence incident in the 107th Precinct that "did not require an arrest," Kenny said. He has one prior arrest in Texas.
After waving his Miranda rights, he identified himself in video that was shown to him, telling police he "has a drug problem" and that he had found the knife used to threaten the teens. He also said "this was the first time he had ever done anything like this," according to Kenny.
Kenny said the two young victims provided "crucial information" that ultimately led to the suspect. And after police released the surveillance video Monday, tips came pouring in.
"The tips came in via social media that gave us the perpetrator's name, his Facebook account, which gave us pictures of him wearing the clothing he was wearing the same day he committed the crime, as well as pictures of him with that distinguishable tattoo on his chest," Kenny said.
"One of the tips we actually received was from a landlord who had stated that the man had come to his building about two weeks previous trying to rent a room," the chief said.
The horrifying attack sent shockwaves through the local community and led to a sweeping response from police, who vowed to "scour the globe" to find the "monster" and "animal" who attacked the girl and her 13-year-old friend last Thursday afternoon.
The NYPD has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the attack, pledging "every investigative resource" would be used, including forensics and a computer analysis of recent crimes in the area.
The two friends, a boy and a girl, had gotten out of school and were walking in a field—near Colden Street and Kalmia Avenue—at 3 p.m. when a man in his 20s brandished a "machete-style knife" and forced them into a wooded area, telling them to "shut up" in English with a "heavy Spanish accent," police said.
The man tied up both of them and sexually assaulted the girl while forcing the boy to watch, according to cops. He then stole their cellphones and fled the scene on foot, threatening them and telling them not move for 20 minutes.
The two teens sought help at a nearby school, where staff called 911, leading to a massive police response and investigation.
The NYPD said two items found at the scene may contain the suspect's DNA—a shoelace used to tie the children's hands together and a water bottle he may have left behind. They also said the suspect had a distinctive tattoo of a boar with red eyes on his chest.
At a news conference Friday, NYPD leadership called the attack "satanic" and a "parents' nightmare." NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell vowed the department would do "whatever we need to do to take this animal off the streets."
