Police say a man was able to get an 11-year-old girl into his car, against her will, in Ridgewood on Saturday morning.
40-year-old Relyn Estrada said nothing to reporters as he was escorted out of the NYPD’s 104th police precinct where he was booked on charges including kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and reckless endangerment. Investigators say it was a Good Samaritan who helped with Estrada’s arrest, although not physically. We spoke to a neighbor who saw what happened.
“We heard something, I heard Alex,” neighbor Edwin Gonzalez said. “And I came outside just like him. And we basically kept his attention on us.
What caught their attention were the actions of the victim. Police say she was walking in the area of Seneca Avenue and Centre Street around 8 in the morning when she first noticed Estrada. Authorities say the 40-year-old called to the victim from his car before eventually cornering the girl and pushing her into the back seat. Fortunately for her, she did not go quietly.
“He put her in the car, that’s when Alex took and heard her,” Gonzalez said. “And she was kicking, kicking and kicking, and that’s when Alex came down stairs.”
Police say at one point both the Samaritan and Estrada were both armed with baseball bats. Neither is believed to have actually used the bats to hurt the other. Instead, they resorted to a war of words.
“Alex just basically took and came down stairs and said, ‘leave her alone,’ and he started cursing,” Gonzalez said.
Police sources say Estrada has a checkered past, with 13 prior arrests including one for sex assault. If convicted of the top count in this case, he could spend as many as 25 years behind bars.