Police say a man who allegedly kidnapped a 9-year-old girl from a supermarket in Queens and forced her to perform a sex act was killed during a police chase.
According to NYPD officials, the girl was with her grandmother in a Key Food grocery store in Queens Village around 7:30 p.m. Thursday when the unknown man approached her.
Police said the man, later identified as 64-year-old Wayne Noel, led her out of the store and into his Honda Civic, drove a few blocks away and sexually assaulted her.
At an afternoon press conference Friday, Assistant Chief of Detectives Jason Savino said a passerby noticed the assault and attempted to stop it. He said Noel then drove to another location and continued the assault, then left the girl on the street.
He was later spotted driving by police who attempted to pull him over.
“The driver refused and recklessly drove through a stop sign and struck another vehicle,” Savino said. Noel was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Savino said Noel was arrested in 2022 for a robbery where he forced a woman into his car before she was able to escape.
This story has been updated to reflect new police information saying the suspect was killed in a car chase.
