Man accused of raping 13-year-old girl in New York City arrested with help from local residents

A 25-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the brutal sexual assault of a child that terrorized the New York City borough of Queens for days and shocked New Yorkers across the city, police said Tuesday.

The man, identified by police as Christian Inga, was taken into custody at the corner of 108th and Waldron Streets, less than three miles from the park where police say he ambushed two 13-year-olds in a field after school on Thursday, dragged them into the woods at knifepoint and tied them up before sexually assaulting the girl.

NYPD Chief of Criminal Investigation Joseph Kenny said at a press conference on Tuesday that he entered the United States from Ecuador via Eagle Pass, Texas, on June 25, 2021. People who lived with him in a boarding house recognized him from the NYPD wanted posters.

Jeffrey Flores told NBC New York he recognized Inga after police released a sketch and video of him riding a bicycle. Flores decided to wait with some friends at a bodega on the corner of 108th and Waldon Streets, where the suspect frequently buys cigarettes and drinks. Another man said they waited for hours for Inga.

Finally he showed up in the middle of the night.

“I told everyone that was the rapist. I hit him. I kicked him. I’m not going to lie,” Flores said.

According to sources, they began attacking him and called 911, telling him to “come and get him.”

“He started screaming ‘help, help’ in Spanish. I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what the little girl said,'” Flores said. “He was really trying to run, run, run for his life, but he couldn’t.”

Flores says he put Inga in a headlock and tied his legs together with a belt. He said the man did not deny the allegations of sexual assault, a statement that was confirmed by a bodega employee who was in the store at the time.

“Yeah, he admitted it. He said, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay, okay, okay. Just leave me alone, don’t hit me, don’t hit me,'” Flores told NBC New York.

At one point, Flores said, the man tried to hide under a car until police arrived and arrested him.

“We don’t have any confirmation of that,” Kenny said. “We heard that they may have tried to tie his feet together with a belt to keep him from running away.”

Kenny also said Inga waived his Miranda rights and “implied that he had a drug problem.” He also said he found the knife used in the alleged attack and “that this was the first time he had ever done anything like this.”

Flores, who is hailed as a hero in his neighborhood, says he felt it necessary to arrest Inga because he has two sisters and a little girl on the way.

“It feels good, I did something good for New York City. That’s one less guy on the streets,” Flores said. “We were lucky enough to see him, it’s crazy. It’s not every day you catch a rapist.”

Inga, a father of two children, is accused of rape, robbery, sexual abuse, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and other charges.

Several high-ranking NYPD officials asked the public on Friday for help in identifying the tattooed stranger who allegedly pushed the schoolmates into the woods. They offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The police thanked the public for their help in identifying the suspect.

“This is exactly what we mean when we talk about public safety as a shared responsibility,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Cabán. “The last few days have proven to the world once again that the people of this city can come together and get the job done like no one else.”

According to investigators, the boy and girl were in a field in Kissena Park around 3 p.m., just after school let out, when a man with curly hair and braces approached them and told them to follow him into the woods. When they refused, police said he pulled out a “large machete knife” and drove them to a secluded area, where he tied their wrists with a shoelace. He then sexually assaulted the 13-year-old girl.

The children told police that the man warned them to stay where they were for 20 minutes, then ran off with their phones. When the time was up, they returned to the school and told the school administration what had happened. They immediately called 911.

Cabán also said the victims had revealed “crucial” information necessary for the arrest.

The children were taken to hospital in stable condition.

A shoelace was found at the crime scene, possibly the one used to bind the children’s wrists.

According to police, Inga had never been arrested in New York City before, but had been arrested once in Texas.