Eduardo Paulino, 31, was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail after prosecutors accused him of twice running over an NYPD officer with a white Honda Pilot in the South Bronx.
Paulino, a Dominican national who entered the US in 2023, had already been wanted by ICE for final removal when Saturday night’s confrontation unfolded at Garrison Avenue and Whittier Street, law-enforcement sources said Tuesday. The injured officer had responded to a 911 call about a large crowd and loud music around 7:20 p.m. When Paulino allegedly got behind the wheel.
As the uniformed officer attempted to investigate, Paulino allegedly put the SUV in reverse, prompting the officer to order him to stop, according to the criminal complaint. Instead, he accelerated toward the officer, striking his legs and hip, prosecutors charged.
Then he allegedly turned the front wheels toward the on-duty cop and sped up a second time, hitting the first responder in the leg and causing him to fall to the ground. Before fleeing, Paulino allegedly ran over the officer’s legs once more with the rear wheels, the complaint said.
The officer was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries including severe pain, bruising, redness and swelling to his legs, ankles, knees, hips and back.
Paulino’s top charge is now attempted murder. He was arraigned Monday in Bronx Criminal Court, where he was also given a $200,000 bond option. An immigration detainer remains in effect, online city Department of Correction records show.
The case has drawn fresh attention to New York’s bail-reform laws and the city’s handling of ICE detainers. Just weeks before Saturday’s incident, Paulino had been arrested in a parking dispute that turned violent.
On Sept. 14, he was accused of repeatedly punching a 29-year-old man in the face on East 139th Street near Willis Avenue in The Bronx, leaving the stranger with a bloody nose, cuts on his mouth and scratches on his leg, sources said. The other man was also arrested and faced identical charges for his role in the argument, prosecutors said.
The charges against Paulino — misdemeanor assault and harassment — were not bail-eligible under state law. He was released on his own recognizance despite the ICE detainer already lodged against him, according to sources and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
Paulino’s case surfaced the same day ICE announced it had lodged immigration detainers against two other Dominican nationals, D’Angelo Caraballo and Sneinder Mejia, who were arrested in connection with the Oct. 2 stabbing of off-duty NYPD detective Jose Mercedes. Caraballo and Mejia were ordered held without bail last week on attempted-murder charges. Mercedes was stabbed 10 times even after identifying himself as an officer, then chased his attackers for two blocks barefoot before collapsing.
Kenneth Genalo, ICE New York City Field Office Director, issued a Tuesday statement linking both cases to local policies.
“New York City’s refusal to honor ICE detainers and its repeated release of removable aliens has grave and unacceptable consequences, including for the very law enforcement officers sworn to protect this city,” Genalo said.
“When public safety is politicized and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement is rejected, dangerous individuals will remain in our communities despite repeated encounters with law enforcement,” he continued. “New Yorkers deserve policies that prevent future harm rather than create opportunities for it.”
Paulino is due back in Bronx Criminal Court as his case proceeds.