Ecuadorian illegal immigrant arrested for knifepoint rape of 13-year-old girl in Queens park

Law enforcement sources told Fox News that a man, whose name has not been released, had been arrested in connection to the crime, and that he entered the country illegally in 2021.

Police said that a machete-wielding man approached two 13-year-olds, a boy and a girl, on Thursday at Kissena Park, around 3 miles from the New York Mets stadium in Queens. He allegedly tied the two young teens together by the wrists and raped the girl in broad daylight.

The 25-year-old man was arrested at 108th and Waldron Street, less than three miles from the scene of the crime, when others living at a rooming house, he was staying at recognized him from video and wanted posters released by police, according to NBC 4. The people who recognized him reportedly began attacking him and called 911 to tell police to "come get him," law enforcement sources told the outlet.

The NYPD had asked the public for help identifying the man, offering a $10,00 reward for information leading to his arrest. The New York Post detailed that a couple of good Samaritans brought him down to the floor while the suspect was over at a store after seeing him on wanted posters.

Jeffrey Flores, 24, who was credited with taking down the suspect with a couple others, said, “I seen him a few times — he comes to this store to buy stuff.” He added, “I waited for him. I waited the whole day to see if he would come up. He came at night.”

“He came in, we went to buy something,” Flores told the outlet. “I saw what he was trying to do, he looked back at me. I waited for him to come out the store and dragged him to the floor. A couple people helped me.”

Investigators said that the two young teens were out in a field in Kissena Park at around 3 pm Thursday, just after school was let out. Investigators said that a curly-haired man approached them and demanded that they follow him into the woods of the park and when they refused, he allegedly pulled out a "large machete-style knife" and forced them into an isolated area. He bound their wrists with a shoelace.

They returned to school and told administrators what had happened after the attack.

The two were taken to a local hospital in stable condition. A shoelace, possibly the one used during the crime, was recovered at the scene.