Stabbed NYPD Detective: 'I Told Them I Was a Police Officer'

An off-duty NYPD detective who was stabbed during a Bronx robbery says he told his attackers in both English and Spanish that he was a police officer, and it made no difference. “I told them I was a police officer. They didn’t care,” Detective Jose Mercedes said in remarks shared by Daily Beltway on X. Mercedes spoke at a press conference at the Detectives’ Endowment Association headquarters in Manhattan on Oct. 13, according to amNY.

Mercedes, 33, was unloading items from his car near East 208th Street and Rochambeau Avenue in the Bronx’s Norwood neighborhood at about 1:43 p.m. on Oct. 2 when he was attacked, according to an Oct. 14 statement from Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. Prosecutors allege one man approached him at knifepoint and tried to pull two gold chains from his neck while a second man grabbed the chains, the statement said. When the detective resisted and identified himself as a police officer, the two men stabbed him 10 times in the neck, arms and torso and fled on an e-bike with one of the chains, according to the district attorney. Early police accounts, reported by CBS New York, put the number of stab wounds at seven.

Jose Mercedes: NYPD detective stabbed 10 times—still chased his attackers 5 blocks. "I told them I was a police officer. They didn't care." Detective lucky to be alive. Should ICE have been called? #JoseMercedes #NYPD pic.twitter.com/mrVgjfbmdF

— Daily Beltway (@DailyBeltway) October 18, 2026

Prosecutors told a judge that Mercedes identified himself as an NYPD detective six times during the attack, CBS New York reported. Bronx Assistant District Attorney Paul Irace said most of the wounds landed on the detective’s arms because he fought back and tried to restrain the men, and that Mercedes ran two blocks barefoot after them before he collapsed from blood loss, according to a report published by Officer.com. Irace said that nearly two weeks after the attack, Mercedes still did not have the use of his left hand, according to the same report.

Mercedes underwent emergency surgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, according to the district attorney’s office, and was released from the hospital two days later, according to amNY. “I thought I was going to die,” he said, CBS New York reported.

Suspects charged, plead not guilty

Sneider Mejia, 24, and D’Angelo Caraballo, 25, both of the Bronx, were indicted on attempted murder, robbery and related charges, District Attorney Clark announced. The two fled to Massachusetts and were arrested in Lynn on Oct. 7, according to the district attorney and CBS New York, which reported that NYPD detectives with the U.S. Marshals’ regional fugitive task force found them hiding in a basement. Both pleaded not guilty and were remanded, CBS New York reported, and they are due back in court on Dec. 3, according to the district attorney. The charges are allegations, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

In her statement, Clark called the attack on a member of the city’s law enforcement community vicious and unacceptable, and said the defendants will now have to answer for the alleged crimes.

DHS: both men entered illegally and were released

The Department of Homeland Security said in an Oct. 6 statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified both suspects as illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic. According to DHS, Caraballo crossed illegally through Arizona in February 2023 and Mejia did so in December 2022, and both were encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol and released into the country under the Biden administration. DHS said an immigration judge issued Mejia a final order of removal on May 8, 2025.

DHS also said both men had prior arrests in New York. According to the department, ICE lodged a detainer on Mejia after an October 2025 weapons arrest, and the NYPD declined it, while Caraballo was released after a December 2024 arrest before ICE could lodge a detainer. NewsNation reported the same details, citing DHS officials.

Detectives’ Endowment Association President Scott Munro has called for sentences of 25 years to life for the suspects, according to amNY. Mercedes thanked his fellow officers for their support and for tracking down the men accused of attacking him, amNY reported.

Sources

• Bronx District Attorney’s Office
• CBS New York: suspects plead not guilty
• CBS New York: suspects arrested in Massachusetts
• amNY
• Department of Homeland Security
• NewsNation
• Officer.com

Reporting by Daily Beltway.