By WGGB Staff
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) -- Police in New Jersey have located a man wanted in connection with the brutal rape of a 4-year-old girl, which left her in serious condition at Baystate Medical Center, earlier this month.
Cherry Points, New Jersey Police say that around 10:00 p.m. Saturday, they found 22-year-old Edilzar Mazariegos hiding in a crop field in their town.
According to Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney, Edlizar Mazariegos, 22, is wanted for aggravated rape of a child with force. Mazariegos, who has also used the name Edy Gonzales, is described as being 5-foot-3-inches tall, with a heavy build and was last seen driving a blue Dodge Durango with two white racing stripes down the hood and roof. The vehicle has a South Carolina license plate number of FSX-544, a dented passenger door and a novelty front license plate with an eagle on it, according to Delaney.
On Saturday, July 3rd, Mazariegos, who knows the victim's mother, is thought to have brutally raped the young girl at 693 Carew St. The girl's mother left for work in a blueberry field in Connecticut at 8 a.m. and didn't return until 5 p.m., when she found her daughter crying and bleeding, according to Delaney.
The girl's mother brought her to Mercy Medical Center, and she was transported to Baystate Medical Center to undergo treatment for severe trauma, according to Delaney.
At the time of the alleged rape, police said another man, Angel Santizo, 20, also of Guatemala, had been watching the girl. Santizo pleaded not guilty to a charge of permitting substantial injury to a child Tuesday in Springfield District Court. He was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail. During his arraignment, it was disclosed the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs has placed a detention order on him on suspicion he may have been living in the country illegally.
Mazariegos had worked for a Connecticut farm, and has connections in Greenfield, Springfield and West Palm Beach, Fla., according to police.
Mazariegos is being held in New Jersey without the right to bail as a fugitive from justice, pending his arraignment.
