Police have identified two suspects in the broad-daylight slashing of an off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx, with one of the men now the subject of an active ICE manhunt.
D’Angelo Caraballo, 25, and Sneider Mejia, 24, are being sought for the robbery and knife attack on Det. Jose Mercedes, 37, near Rochambeau Avenue and East 208th Street in Norwood around 1:45 p.m. Friday, law enforcement sources said. Mercedes, assigned to the 44th Precinct, was grabbing items from his car trunk when the pair pulled up on an e-bike and tried to steal his gold chain.
When Mercedes fought back, Caraballo allegedly slashed him seven times before the pair sped off, leaving the detective bleeding on the sidewalk, police said. Emergency responders rushed him to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
Surveillance footage captured the suspects near the scene, with Mejia driving the e-bike down the sidewalk and Caraballo riding shirtless behind him, according to investigators. Police publicly identified the pair Tuesday following a massive manhunt.
Mejia, the alleged driver, is an undocumented immigrant with a pending detainer issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sources said. He has one prior arrest from last year, though that case has since been sealed.
Caraballo, the suspected stabber, has two more recent arrests on his record. In July, he was charged with menacing for allegedly threatening to stab a person who had rented him a room in the Bronx. He also faces a 2025 gun possession charge for allegedly carrying a loaded.380 Taurus in his vehicle, sources said.
Mercedes joined the NYPD in July 2016 and was the first police officer in his family, a path that has since inspired other relatives to pursue law enforcement careers, his family said. By Saturday, his uncle, aunt and nephew had gathered at his hospital bedside.
“We want the justice system to ensure the police do their job effectively, but the courts go too easy on them, sending criminals right back out on the street,” Ricardo Mercedes, the detective’s uncle, told The Post. “We want a tough stance from the justice system.”
“The police catch them, but then they’re let go — right back out on the street,” he added. “That is what we want to change.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch both visited Mercedes at Jacobi Medical Center as he recovered from his wounds.
The attack on Mercedes came amid a string of violent incidents targeting New York City first responders. In May, an FDNY firefighter allegedly punched an on-duty NYPD officer in the face during a mental health crisis inside a Queens hospital, prosecutors and sources said. Last month, a suspect was arrested after allegedly throwing a glass bottle at an NYPD officer’s head at a Queens public housing complex. Earlier this year, a mob pummeled officers with snowballs during a chaotic scene at Washington Square Park.
Police are continuing to search for Caraballo and Mejia, and have asked anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact the NYPD.