Two illegal immigrants with long criminal records remain free after the stabbing of an off-duty NYPD detective, a case DHS ties to open-border releases and New York sanctuary rules.
An off-duty New York City police detective was stabbed and slashed repeatedly during a street robbery in the Bronx, and the two men wanted in the attack are Dominican citizens living in the country illegally, with prior arrests that never ended in lasting detention or removal.
Fox News Digital reported that Detective Jose Mercedes was clearing out the trunk of his car when the suspects tried to snatch his gold chain. When he fought back, they stabbed and slashed him multiple times. He chased them for two blocks before collapsing and was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in Morris Park.
Mercedes was released from the hospital this week. He was wheeled out of the facility, then stood up in front of clapping officers. The suspects, Dangelo Rafael Jean Caraballo, 25, and Sneider Mejia Bautista, 24, remain at large and are wanted in connection with the attempted murder of the detective.
The Department of Homeland Security said both men entered the United States unlawfully through the Arizona border at different times. They were apprehended and then released into the country under the Biden administration.
That release put them on city streets with records that already pointed to repeat trouble. Local decisions later blocked immigration enforcement from holding them when new arrests gave ICE a chance to act.
Caraballo’s prior arrests, as described by DHS and reported in the coverage, include reckless endangerment, reckless driving, unlawful fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle, possession of burglar’s tools, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon involving a loaded firearm, and second-degree menacing with a weapon.
After a December 2024 arrest for possession of burglar’s tools, local authorities released him before ICE could lodge an immigration detainer. He was back on the street. He is now wanted in the stabbing of Detective Mercedes.
Bautista’s prior arrests include criminal possession of stolen property, possession of burglar’s tools, grand larceny, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Following an October 2025 weapon charge, ICE lodged a detainer. Local officials declined the request under New York City’s sanctuary policies. In other cases, he was released so quickly after arrest that ICE could not lodge detainers in time. Like Caraballo, he remains free and wanted in the detective’s stabbing.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin tied the attack to federal border releases and local non-cooperation.
"This horrific crime could have been prevented if it weren’t for Biden’s open borders and the America Last policies of New York sanctuary politicians,"
Mullin said. He pressed city and state authorities to work with federal agents.
"DHS is calling on New York authorities to cooperate with us so we can get these dangerous criminals off our streets. Our thoughts and prayers are with the detective for a speedy recovery."
The sequence is plain. Both men crossed illegally, were released into the interior, racked up serious local charges, and slipped past ICE detainers because New York released them or refused federal holds. An off-duty detective then paid the price on a Bronx street while cleaning out his trunk.
Mercedes did what trained officers do. He resisted a chain snatch, took multiple stab and slash wounds, and still ran two blocks after the men who cut him before he went down. His colleagues met him with applause when he left Jacobi Medical Center.
The men accused of trying to kill him for a gold chain have not been caught. Their immigration status, entry path, and prior arrests are not in dispute in the federal account. Neither is the city’s refusal to honor at least one ICE detainer, or the pattern of releases that left agents without time to act.
Robbery was the stated motive. The deeper failure sits in the pipeline that put two illegal immigrants with weapon and theft histories back on the same streets where an off-duty NYPD detective became their next target.
When border releases and sanctuary rules keep repeat offenders out of ICE custody, the public inherits the risk, and frontline officers bleed for it.
