An off-duty NYPD detective is lucky to be alive after two men on a motorized bike ran up on him in the Bronx and stabbed him seven times trying to snatch his gold chain. The attack went down Friday afternoon, and on Saturday the NYPD put out surveillance footage of the suspects making their getaway.
Detective Jose Mercedes, 33, was digging something out of his trunk near Rochambeau Avenue and East 208th Street in Norwood around 1:45 p.m. when the duo ambushed him, police said. They stabbed and slashed him across his body, ripped the chain from his neck, and sped off southbound on the bike. Bleeding heavily, Mercedes still chased them about two blocks before collapsing near East 206th Street.
He was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition. His uncle told the Post he may need surgery on his arm this weekend because two of his fingers are not moving. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited him at the hospital on Friday and scrapped a crime stats press conference to do it.
The uncle did not hold back on the system, either. “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 onto the street,” he told the Post. “The police catch them, but then they are let go, right back out on the street. That is what we want to change.”
No arrests yet. One person of interest was picked up Friday evening, but police do not believe he was the stabber. The two suspects are still out there. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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