A Bronx man was convicted by a jury of attempted assault for shooting at an off-duty NYPD detective in a 2023 fit of road rage on the Long Island Expressway in Oakland Gardens.
Alexis Morillo, 41, of Hammersley Avenue in Pelham Gardens, was found guilty on July 23 of attempted assault in the first degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, reckless driving, and unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle after the jury deliberated for just three hours before reaching a verdict.
“Gun violence will not be tolerated anywhere in Queens, not on our community streets and not on our shared roadways,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
According to the charges and trial testimony, on Sept. 17, 2023, at around 12:20 a.m., an off-duty detective was driving eastbound on the Long Island Expressway near the Cross Island Parkway. He was traveling in the left lane behind a white Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 SUV driven by Morillo when he passed Morillo on the right and re-entered the left lane. Morillo then drove into the middle lane alongside the detective’s car and matched his speed. The detective looked over and saw Morillo, who was alone in the car, yelling at him, according to the charges. The detective glanced over again at Morillo’s and saw a muzzle flash. A bullet struck his car on the passenger side. The detective slowed slightly and began to follow Morillo’s Mercedes SUV as it sped off and exited the LIE at the Douglaston Parkway exit and headed westbound on the Horace Harding Expressway and then re-entered the westbound Long Island Expressway.
The detective called 911 from his car and reported the gunman’s license plate number. He continued to follow Morillo until they reached the vicinity of the Horace Harding Expressway, where the detective lost sight of him.
Police from the 111th Precinct in Bayside found a bullet hole in the front passenger side panel of the detective’s car and eventually recovered a deformed bullet fragment from inside the panel. Morillo’s vehicle, which was registered to his girlfriend, was abandoned in Astoria.
Records indicate that after the time of the shooting incident, Morillo called an Uber to travel from Astoria to his home in the Pelham Gardens section of the Bronx. Morillo was apprehended on Oct. 25, 2023, by Detective Justin Guzman of the 111th Precinct Detective Squad.
“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 easily ended in tragedy,” Katz said. “I thank the jury for its service and the defendant now faces prison time for his dangerous criminal behavior.”
Morillo was acquitted of attempted murder. Queens Supreme Court Justice David Kirschner set sentencing for Sept. 8, when Morillo faces up to 15 years in prison.
