FLUSHING, Queens (PIX11) – Police released new images of a suspect wanted in the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a park in Queens last week, according to the NYPD.
The NYPD released surveillance images and video on Monday showing the suspect riding a bicycle down a sidewalk.
The suspect allegedly threatened two 13-year-old kids with a machete-like knife and tied their hands together with a shoelace before raping the young girl in Kissena Park in Flushing on Thursday, authorities said.
The suspect approached the teens on a field in Kissena Park near Colden Street and Kalmia Avenue around 3 p.m. and told them to follow him into the woods, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
When the kids refused, he told them to “shut up,” Kenny said.
The suspect then pulled a large knife resembling a machete and forced the boy and girl to follow him into the woods. The man then tied their wrists together with a shoelace before sexually assaulting the girl, police said.
The suspect then stole their cellphones and told them to wait in the area for 20 minutes before running off, Kenny said.
The victims, who were classmates who went to play soccer in the park after school, returned to campus to report the incident. Within minutes, investigators flooded the area and found the shoelace and the suspect’s water bottle, police said. The NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit continued searching the park on Friday.
“A shoelace that may have been used to tie the children’s hands together was discovered. That shoelace is currently being processed for forensics evidence. A water bottle that the perpetrator left behind is also being processed,” Kenny said.
Cops deployed two drones to canvass the area and installed cameras around the park, according to NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.
“We will leave no stone unturned until we bring this monster [to] justice,” Daughtry said.
Police asked area residents to check their home surveillance systems while they scoured store security cameras in the neighborhood. The NYPD is offering up to a $10,000 reward for tips.
Police described the man as in his 20s, short, with curly hair, dental braces on his teeth, and a chest tattoo of a boar or bull with red eyes. He was last seen wearing red sneakers and carrying a green backpack.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
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