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.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed a person of interest was in custody but declined to provide additional details.
However, law enforcement sources tell Fox News that police arrested an Ecuardorian man Monday evening in connection with the crime. He entered the country illegally in 2021.
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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.
Police had been offering a $10,000 reward in the case after obtaining surveillance video showing the suspect on a bicycle.
Police found him after neighbors recognized him from the wanted poster, held him down and called 911, sources said.
"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.
The migrant had several low-level prior offenses, including subway fare jumping and drinking in public.
"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."
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.
