QUEENS, NY — A Bronx man has been convicted of attempted assault and multiple weapons charges for firing a shot at an off-duty NYPD detective during a road rage incident on the Long Island Expressway last year, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
Alexis Morillo, 41, of Hammersley Avenue, was found guilty by a jury of attempted assault in the first degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, reckless driving, and unlawfully fleeing a police officer. He was acquitted of attempted murder. Sentencing is scheduled for September 8, and he faces up to 15 years in prison.
According to trial testimony, around 12:20 a.m. on September 17, 2023, the off-duty detective passed Morillo’s white Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 on the right and re-entered the left lane. Moments later, Morillo pulled alongside the detective’s car, yelled at him, and fired a shot, striking the vehicle’s front passenger side panel.
The detective followed Morillo’s vehicle, reported his license plate to 911, and lost sight of him near the Horace Harding Expressway. Investigators later recovered a bullet fragment from the detective’s car and located Morillo’s abandoned vehicle in Astoria. Records showed Morillo took an Uber from Astoria to the Bronx shortly after the shooting.
District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “The defendant shot at a fellow motorist, who happened to be an off-duty NYPD detective, in a fit of road rage that could have very easily ended in tragedy.”