An outraged mom chased down and tried to tackle a sicko who sexually assaulted her 4-year-old girl at a McDonald’s Play Palace in Queens, police sources said Wednesday.
The woman started hunting for the predator as soon as her child said the creep had grabbed her inside a tubular slide at the eatery on Hillside Ave. in Jamaica at 8:25 p.m. Tuesday and forced her to perform a sex act on him.
She saw him and grabbed his shirt, but the pedophile managed to break free and slither across Hillside Ave., police sources said.
A security guard was stationed at the McDonald’s, but he apparently did nothing to help, police sources said. Nor did he question the suspect even though witnesses saw him hanging around the eatery for more than an hour, the sources said.
“I think McDonald’s security is worthless,” said diner Tony Pecas, 56, who has been eating at the Hillside Ave. golden arches for 30 years.
“All my kids have played in that playground so I know what’s going on: They don’t monitor.”
Police sources said that the pedophile, who had a bandage covering a knot on his head, approached the girl inside the massive jungle gym and spoke to her slowly.
He followed her and attacked her after the two of them slid down a covered slide together, sources said.
The child’s mother, who was nearby, didn’t realize what had happened until her child came out of the play palace and told her the horrifying story.
This isn’t the first time an attack like this took place at the Jamaica McDonald’s, sources said. A man grabbed a 9-year-old girl inside the eatery in March and put his hand down her pants. It was not immediately clear if the same sicko was responsible for the attacks.
Cortesia Norman, who owns the McDonald’s franchise, said she and her staff are working with investigators to identify the pedophile.
“This type of behavior is not tolerated at our restaurants,” she said. “The safety our our customers is our top priority.”
The play palace, which is in a separate building, remained taped off Wednesday morning.
Kevin Lastique, 50, said he planned to let his three boys, between the ages of 2 and 8, use the play palace Wednesday morning — then he found out what happened.
“We won’t go here! Oh my gosh,” he exclaimed.
“I’d have to think twice about it. I would never have thought that a guy would be waiting in the tubes to molest my child. It’s not something you’d expect.”
Maria Ortiz, 49, said she has let her 10-year-old granddaughter use the play space, but never lets the little girl out of her sight.
“It’s not a safe world,” she said.
Police say the fiend was caught on surveillance video entering the McDonald’s and chatting with at least one customer.
He’s described as between 18 and 30, with a medium complexion, and was wearing a dark purple short-sleeved shirt and faded black or dark blue jeans at the time of the attack.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact police. Calls to Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS are confidential.
