NYPD cartoonist helps arrest suspect

The 13-year-old victim of a rape in a Queens park demonstrated a model of courage in the hours following the heinous knife attack: she overcame her fear and remembered key details that helped her catch the monster.

“She was so nervous she was actually shaking,” recalls Detective Jason Harvey, one of two NYPD cartoonists. “But she was able to calm down and talk to me.”

Over the next few hours, the brave teenager told the perpetrator, who had been active for 20 years, important details about her attacker’s facial features, hair and the distinctive wild boar tattoo on the left side of her chest. This red-colored tattoo helped the police to clearly identify the alleged rapist.

“She remembered what he was wearing and exactly what his tattoo looked like,” he said.

She was able to describe his face in detail, said it was oval, described his black clothes and spiky hair, and even remembered his braces.

“She said, ‘This doesn’t look right, change it and give me some direction,'” Harvey said.

The most meaningful element she achieved, however, was the tattoo.

“She remembered that it had red eyes,” Harvey said. “She remembered everything about that tattoo.”

It helped the teenager that her 13-year-old friend, who was with her during the attack, was present during the interrogation, Harvey said.

“The presence of her boyfriend really calmed her down,” the detective said. “He was able to help her.”

The two teenagers were playing soccer on a field in Kissena Park after school around 3:30 p.m. on June 13 when suspected rapist Christian Inga-Landi, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, forced them further into the park with a “machete-like knife,” police said.

He then tied her hands with shoelaces and raped the girl, police said. The boy lay face down throughout the attack and therefore did not see what was happening to his friend, police sources said.

Rape victims do not always have useful memories after an attack.

“They have more time to observe their attackers,” Harvey said. “But often people ignore that.”

When Harvey’s sketches were finished, they were printed on wanted posters, hung around the city, and broadcast on social media and television.

Detective Chief Joseph Kenny said the sketch – which included a drawing of the tattoo – was the crux of the case.

“The sketch artist gave us this picture as a template and I’ll tell you right away, the sketch was absolutely accurate,” he said after his arrest.

The migrant was arrested when Good Samaritans recognized him at the 108th Street Grocery in Queens around 1 a.m. Tuesday. During the scuffle, he took off his shirt, revealing the telltale tattoo.

Angela Sauretti, 23, said the crowd fought him even harder when they saw and recognized the tattoo, which was only visible in Harvey’s sketch.

Harvey, who attended the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, before joining the police force, was glad his sketch helped.

“It feels really good,” said the father of two from Rockland County. “I just did the drawing.”

The president of the Detectives Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo, was less modest about his detective’s work.

“The skills of NYPD detectives are limitless – like those of unsung hero Jason Harvey,” said DiGiacomo. “His drawing helped investigators catch the monster wanted for the heinous crime.”