John Jefferson
Inset: Man identified by police as Wayne Noel (NYPD). Background: The Honda Civic that Noel was driving when he fatally crashed (WCBS).
The man who kidnapped a 9-year-old girl from a New York City supermarket and sexually assaulted her died the next day when he crashed into another vehicle while fleeing cops, according to police. Officers identified him as Queens man Wayne Noel, 64.
In a press conference, NYPD Assistant Chief of Detectives Jason Savino told reporters that the child was with her grandmother Thursday at approximately 7 p.m. at a Key Food supermarket on Jamaica Avenue. The grandmother, a mainstay in the neighborhood, left briefly to use the restroom. It was then that Noel approached the child and ordered her to the effect of, “Get in front of me,” according to police.
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He allegedly grabbed her hair and forced her out of the store. He pushed her inside of his vehicle, drove nearby and sexually assaulted her, Savino said. A Good Samaritan interrupted this.
“As a response, the subject cowardly drives away, and parks once again in close proximity right back again in that Key Food store area and once again, sexually assaults our survivor,” Savino said.
Noel then fled, leaving the girl on the street, police said.
The next day, at approximately 12:30 p.m., police spotted the suspect vehicle in the area of 212th Street and Hillside Avenue. They tried to pull the driver over, but he fled. Ultimately, however, this driver — Noel — went through a stop sign and crashed into another vehicle, officers said. Noel died at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
When police put out a warning about the kidnapping on Thursday, they did not know his identity, but Savino said Friday that people who knew him identified him in part because of footage from the supermarket.
🚨WANTED for KIDNAPPING: On Thursday, August 29, 2024, at approximately 7:21 PM, a 9-year-old female victim was in the vicinity of 213 Street and Jamaica Avenue when an unknown male individual approached the victim and led her out of the location into his vehicle and drove away… pic.twitter.com/EhJzxBU3tZ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 30, 2024
Noel’s criminal history included a 2022 arrest for robbery in which he, armed with a knife, forced a woman into his vehicle, and drove off, though she managed to escape, police said.
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