In what turned out to be dramatic, a group of vigilant citizens took matters into their own hands by apprehending and restraining a 25-year-old Ecuadorean migrant accused of brutally sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at Kissena Park in Queens. The dramatic incident, captured on video and in photographs, shows the shirtless suspect, identified as Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, cowering on the sidewalk as the angry mob beats him and calls him out as “a rapist.”
The footage depicts the intense confrontation, with a woman clutching Inga-Landi’s hair and screaming in Spanish, “Where are you going? Where are you going? He’s a rapist. He doesn’t care.” The suspect is seen crawling under a parked car in an attempt to escape the vigilante mob, as bystanders continue to yell and demand justice.
Jeffrey Flores, one of the civilian heroes who pounced on the suspect, revealed that he had waited the whole day for Inga-Landi to emerge from a deli on 108th Street, just a few blocks from the park. Flores recognized the suspect from police-wanted posters and surveillance video released by the NYPD following the heinous crime.
The suspect, who had been the subject of a massive NYPD manhunt, allegedly used a “machete-style knife” to force the young victim and her friend into a secluded area in Kissena Park on Thursday. He then tied them up with shoelaces and sexually assaulted the girl, a cowardly act that mobilized the community and prompted the release of the suspect’s images and wanted posters throughout Flushing.
Flores, who has two younger sisters and is expecting a daughter, expressed his disgust at the abusive nature of the crime, stating, “I don’t like that. That’s abusive. That’s not right.” He was joined by a 22-year-old friend, identified as Forge, who had shown Flores a photo of the accused attacker from Instagram and helped apprehend the suspect.
As of Tuesday, the suspect has not yet been officially charged, but sources revealed that he lived at an SRO in the neighborhood. The brave actions of the good Samaritans have brought a sense of relief and justice to the community, which had been deeply shaken by the horrific assault on the young girl.