Migrant arrested in broad daylight rape of 13-year-old in New York park

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NEW YORK – EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: An illegal immigrant Ecuadorian is in NYPD custody after a broad daylight sex attack in which police said a machete-wielding man approached two 13-year-olds, one a boy and one a girl, tied them together by the wrists and raped the girl at a popular park in Queens, according to sources.

Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, a 25-year-old from Ecuador, entered the country illegally in 2021 near Eagle Pass, Texas, with his three-year-old child, NYPD leaders revealed during a news briefing Tuesday.

After police released surveillance video showing him near the scene of the crime, tips started pouring in, police said. Ultimately, a group of at least 10 neighbors swarmed him and held him until police arrived around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

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Attached is a photo of the migrant who was arrested for sexual assault. His clothes are ripped, he is missing one of his shoes, and he is bruised up after residents subdued him and called 911. (Fox News)

"Everybody knew who we were looking for," said Chief Joseph Kenny. "We had tips coming in actually naming the perpetrator. They knew who he was. They saw him out on the street."

"We saw from bodycam video at least 10 neighborhood people trying to do the right thing," he added. 

Inga-Landi was treated for minor injuries after police said he tried to fight the good Samaritans, who bound his legs with a belt to keep him from running away.

The attack happened Thursday at Kissena Park, about 3 miles from where the New York Mets play at Citi Field and near the site of the 1964 World's Fair and the U.S. Open. The victim also went to school in the neighborhood.

A person of interest seen in a still image taken from surveillance video riding a bicycle prior to his arrest. (NYPD)

It's even closer to the childhood neighborhood of former President Donald Trump.

"I grew up right near there," he told Fox News Digital. "Something like this was unthinkable years ago — unthinkable."

Trump recalled being able to walk down the street as a child.

"You could go down and go to the candy store, walk back — your parents never even had a thought of anything happening," Trump told Fox News Digital. "This is a different world. My parents never would have even had a thought that something could happen."

But an unchecked influx of illegal immigration across the southern border is getting out of control, he said.

"These are Biden migrants," Trump told Fox News Digital. "They are flooding our country. They are flooding our cities and states."

He added, "I’d like to pay my highest respects and love to the parents and family members — this tragedy should never have happened."

Police had been offering a $10,000 reward in the case after obtaining surveillance video showing the suspect on a bicycle.

Police investigate the scene of a sexual assault in Kissena Corridor Park in Queens, NY on Thursday June 13, 2024. According to the NYPD, two 13-year-olds, a boy and a girl were held at knifepoint, bound, and the girl, raped by a male assailant who later fled the scene. A person of interested was arrested Monday night and identified Tuesday as an illegal from Ecuador. (Peter Gerber)

Police found him after neighbors recognized him from the wanted poster, held him down and called 911. The victims were able to identify him, and police said they were still examining other forensic evidence, including DNA.

"It was good police work," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "They got the drawings out of the suspect and his tattoo, and then were able to secure the surveillance photo and … some help from the public - but that’s how it’s supposed to work."

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The two teens were walking in the middle of the day when police say a man in his 20s approached them with the blade, and forced them into a wooded area.

After the attack, he allegedly stole their cellphones and ran off.

Police investigate the scene of a sexual assault in Kissena Corridor Park in Queens, NY on Thursday June 13, 2024. According to the NYPD, two 13-year-olds, a boy and a girl were held at knifepoint, bound and the girl, raped by an unknown male assailant who later fled the scene. (Peter Gerber)

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The migrant had several low-level prior offenses, including subway fare jumping and drinking in public. Police said he was also involved in a domestic violence incident where no charges were filed, and he had an unspecified arrest in Texas.

"Enforcing minor crimes matters, even though the city council is trying to tell us no," Giacalone said. "It not only creates deterrence for future crimes, but it also creates the opportunity for the police to gather intelligence, in order to track people down who have done such heinous crimes like the one we just saw."

Police investigate the scene of a sexual assault in Kissena Corridor Park in Queens, NY on Thursday June 13, 2024. According to the NYPD, two 13-year-olds, a boy and a girl were held at knifepoint, bound and the girl, raped by an unknown male assailant who later fled the scene. (Peter Gerber)

Under prior administrations, he said, a fare jumper would be arrested, taken to the precinct and fingerprinted, which often helped police solve more serious crimes. 

Police described him as a male Hispanic in his 20s with braces and a tattoo of a horned animal with red eyes on his chest.

Timing for his arraignment was not immediately clear. He faces a slew of charges including rape, sex abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and kidnapping.