Nashane Peterkin, 16, arrested in Valley Stream park rape, attempted assault
Nashane Peterkin, 16, of Springfield Gardens, walks with head covered out of the State Park Police Headquaters in West Babylon after being arrested and charged with sexual assault. (Sept. 9, 2013) Credit: Jim Staubitser
Nassau and State Park Police have arrested a Queens 16-year-old in connection with the rape of a woman at Valley Stream State Park and a sexual assault near the village train station, authorities said Sunday.
Nashane Peterkin, of Springfield Gardens, was charged by State Park Police Sunday with first-degree rape and second-degree assault and strangulation in connection with the assault of the woman in her 60s on Sept. 2.
The woman was walking alone on a hiking trail near the park's Hendrickson Avenue entrance about 11:10 a.m. on Labor Day when she was attacked. Police said he choked and beat the victim, leaving her with broken ribs and a bruised face.
Nassau police also charged him with the Aug. 12 attempted rape of a woman who was walking south on Mill Road from the Long Island Rail Road's Valley Stream station, officials said.
That woman, who was seven months pregnant at the time, told police as she was walking on Mill Road, a man on a bicycle grabbed her as he rode by. He attempted to rip off her shirt and pin her to the ground, but she told police she was able to fight him off and he fled on his bicycle.
Last week, as police released a sketch of the suspect, they said the same person was believed to be involved in another attack on Aug. 12 that happened 20 minutes before the train station attack.
In that earlier attack, a 58-year-old Lynbrook woman told police the suspect approached her outside her house, punched her, pushed her into the house and attempted to take off her clothes. The man fled on his bicycle as the woman screamed out to neighbors for help. A Nassau police spokesman said Sunday the department could not comment whether Peterkin also was involved in that incident.
Peterkin's arrest came as part of a joint investigation conducted by Nassau police's Fourth Squad, Special Victims Squad, the Nassau County district attorney's office, State Police, State Park Police and the NYPD, police said.
He was taken into custody about 6:50 a.m. Sunday in Howard Beach, Queens, Nassau police said.
Peterkin will be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead Monday on all charges and police are expected to release more details about his arrest.
'Let somebody else have a chance' Hundreds of Long Island educators are double dipping, a term used to describe collecting both a salary and a pension. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Jim Baumbach report.
'Let somebody else have a chance' Hundreds of Long Island educators are double dipping, a term used to describe collecting both a salary and a pension. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Jim Baumbach report.
