Police on Tuesday morning said they had a person of interest in custody in connection with a high-profile robbery and assault on two 13-year-olds in a Queens park last week.
NYPD officials could not immediately confirm many details about the person, nor could say whether he was the same person in photos that police released on Monday. The photos showed a young man with curly hair riding a bike on a sidewalk while wearing a black shirt, a backpack and pants with colorful graphics.
Police released the photos to help with their search for a man who allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl and boy into a secluded, wooded area of Kissena Park in East Flushing last Thursday, tied their hands together with a shoelace and sexually assaulted the girl before fleeing with their cell phones, officials said.
At a press conference on Friday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the man had approached the two teens, who are classmates, as they were playing around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday near Colden Street and Kalmia Avenue after their school dismissal. The man told them to follow him into the woods, according to Kenny.
“When they refused, the male told them ‘shut up’ in English,” Kenny said. “He then produced and displayed a large machete-style knife.”
The incident sparked a massive search by the NYPD, with officials working to identify and track down the suspect. Officers flooded the neighborhood as the department flew drones, canvassed local streets and set up patrols in parks and schools.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police.