ICE Hunting for 2 Illegal Aliens Suspected of Stabbing an NYPD Officer 3 Years After Biden Released Them Into the U.S.
ICE is looking for two Dominican men accused of slashing an off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx on Friday, and Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News both were caught at the Arizona border under the Biden administration before being released into the United States.
Police identified the suspects Tuesday as 25-year-old D’Angelo Caraballo and 24-year-old Sneider Mejia, the New York Post reported. Both remained at large. Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported the names as Dangelo Rafael Jean Caraballo and Sneider Mejia Bautista, citing DHS sources.
BREAKING: I’m told by DHS sources that the two suspects wanted for attempted murder in connection to the stabbing & robbery of an off-duty NYPD detective in NYC on Friday are both Dominican illegal aliens who were caught and released at the AZ border by the Biden administration & both have lengthy criminal histories in NYC, including an ignored ICE detainer.
Both suspects remain at large, and while NYPD hasn’t officially released their names yet, @FoxNews is told they’ve been identified as 24-year-old SNEIDER MEJIA BAUTISTA and 25-year-old DANGELO RAFAEL JEAN CARABALLO.
I’m told that MEJIA BAUTISTA, a Dominican national, was arrested by Border Patrol after crossing the border illegally near San Luis, AZ on 12/2/2022 with his family, and they were all released into the country. He and his family have had deportation orders since 5/8/2025. I’m told that MEJIA BAUTISTA was arrested by NYPD in the Bronx for criminal possession of a weapon on 10/3/2025 and the next day, ICE filed a detainer on him, but the detainer was ignored and he was released from local custody. I’m told he was also arrested by NYPD on 1/7/2025 for criminal possession of stolen property.
I’m told that DANGELO RAFAEL JEAN CARABALLO, a Dominican national, was arrested by Border Patrol after crossing the border illegally near San Luis, AZ on 2/2/2023, and he was released into the country with a future court date. He has five prior arrests in NYC, but no ICE detainers were filed because he was released from custody so quickly each time. His priors include:
1/5/2024 – Arrested by NYPD for reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing from police officer, and reckless driving
12/20/24 – Arrested by NYPD for being in possession of burglar’s tools
6/4/2025 – Arrested by NYPD for criminal possession of a controlled substance
10/26/25 – Arrested by NYPD for criminal possession of a loaded firearm
7/10/2026 – Arrested by NYPD for criminal menacing involving a weapon
Per DHS sources, on each arrest, he was released so quickly that he was already out of custody by the time the feds knew about the encounters and couldn’t put detainers on him in time.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 6, 2026
Detective Jose Mercedes was taking items from the trunk of his car at Rochambeau Avenue and East 208th Street in Norwood at about 1:45 p.m. Friday when two men pulled up on an e-bike, police said. They tried to take his gold chain. Mercedes fought back and was slashed seven times, the Post reported. The pair left on the bike. He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and listed in stable condition. The department said he is assigned to the 44th Precinct in the Bronx.
Surveillance video showed the driver on the sidewalk and a shirtless passenger behind him, the Post reported. Police named Caraballo as the accused slasher and Mejia as the driver.
Mercedes, who joined the department in July 2016, was released from the hospital Monday and gave a thumbs-up to officers waiting outside, the Post reported. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch had visited him over the weekend.
Melugin reported that Mejia Bautista, a Dominican national, was arrested by Border Patrol after crossing illegally near San Luis, Arizona, on Dec. 2, 2022, with his family, and that the group was released into the country. He and his family have had deportation orders since May 8, 2025, DHS sources told Fox News.
Those sources said NYPD arrested Mejia Bautista in the Bronx on Jan. 7, 2025, for criminal possession of stolen property, and again on Oct. 3, 2025, for criminal possession of a weapon. ICE filed a detainer the next day. The detainer was ignored, and he was released from local custody, Melugin reported.
🚨 WANTED FOR ROBBERY: On Friday, October 2, 2026, at approximately 1:44 P.M., on the northwest corner of Rochambeau Avenue and East 208 Street, a 33-year-old male victim was approached by two unidentified individuals on a motorized bike. The two individuals stabbed and slashed the victim multiple times throughout the body and proceeded to forcefully remove the victim’s chain from around his neck. The unidentified individuals then fled the location on the motorized bike, last seen traveling southbound on Rochambeau Avenue.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://t.co/2PvTmQgxad, on X @NYPDTips.
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) October 3, 2026
Caraballo was also arrested by Border Patrol near San Luis after an illegal crossing and released with a future court date, DHS sources told Fox News. Melugin reported that date as Feb. 2, 2023. The Post, citing the same report, gave the crossing date as Dec. 2, 2023.
DHS sources told Fox News that Caraballo has five prior NYPD arrests and that no ICE detainers were filed because he was out of custody before federal officers could lodge one. The dates Melugin listed were Jan. 5, 2024, for reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing, and reckless driving; Dec. 20, 2024, for possession of burglar’s tools; June 4, 2025, for criminal possession of a controlled substance; Oct. 26, 2025, for criminal possession of a loaded firearm; and July 10, 2026, for criminal menacing involving a weapon.
The Post reported two of those cases in more detail: a 2025 gun charge involving a loaded .380 Taurus found in a car, and a July menacing case in which he allegedly threatened to stab a person who had rented him a room in the Bronx.
On each of those arrests, he was released quickly enough that he was already out by the time federal authorities learned of the stop, DHS sources told Melugin. The Post said he is wanted by ICE and published a photo identifying a pending detainer for Mejia.
Ricardo Mercedes, the detective’s uncle, told the Post that courts were sending people back to the street after police made arrests.
“The police catch them, but then they’re let go, right back out on the street,” he said.
The Friday attack was the latest in a string of assaults on city officers this year, the Post reported, including a September bottle-throwing at a Queens public-housing complex and a May punch of an on-duty officer inside a Queens hospital. Neither of those cases was tied to the two men now sought in the Bronx.
NYPD had not posted the names in an official release at the time Melugin’s report went up. The manhunt was still open Tuesday afternoon, and both men were still listed as at large.
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