NYPD detective stabbed 10 times in Bronx robbery struggled to call 911

An NYPD detective stabbed 10 times during a robbery in the Bronx revealed how he struggled to call 911 while tracking his fleeing attackers before recognizing the severity of his own injuries and the extent of his blood loss Sunday on “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.”

Detective Jose Mercedes said in an exclusive interview with Fox News that he couldn’t unlock his phone as he tried to report his attackers’ whereabouts. Realizing that he was bleeding badly, he stopped following them — recalling cases he had investigated involving victims who suffered significant blood loss.

“Suddenly, I grabbed my phone again, and it’s completely filled with blood,” Mercedes said. “And at that point is when I stopped running.”

Mercedes said his police training kicked in when two masked men approached him while he was retrieving belongings from his car’s trunk on his day off work. One displayed a knife and attempted to grab the gold chains around his neck.

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“The first thing that went through my mind was fear,” Mercedes recalled. “The next thing that went through my mind was action.”

Mercedes said he managed to unmask both suspects during the struggle, despite fearing they might have additional weapons. He also said he would have tried to escape the confrontation if he had seen the men approaching.

“The fear that comes upon you and your body turns cold,” he told host Brian Kilmeade. “Thereafter, your adrenaline kicks in. And now it’s action time, and now I have to defend myself with all my might or die.”

D’Angelo Rafael Jean Caraballo, left, and Sneider Mejia Bautista, right, are walked from the 52nd Precinct in The Bronx, N.Y., on October 13. The men are Dominican citizens living illegally in the United States, and are accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD Detective Jose Mercedes earlier this month. (Dario Alequin for Fox News Digital)

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Police identified the alleged attackers as D’Angelo Caraballo, 25, and Sneider Mejia, 24. Both are Dominican nationals living illegally in the United States and were arrested in Massachusetts after allegedly fleeing New York, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Scott Munro, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, criticized immigration enforcement policies during the interview, blasting what he described as a lack of respect for law enforcement.

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“They’re taking politics before public safety right now,” Munro said. “They’re taking politics before law enforcement.”

Mercedes, who suffered wounds to both arms and his back, said the stress of the attack caused him to overlook a critical lifesaving measure despite his decade of police experience.

“I did a lot of things tactically correct, but I also forgot a few things,” he said, expressing gratitude to the officers who arrived and applied tourniquets to both his bleeding arms.

“I thought I was going to die at a certain point. My skin changed colors, I became pale. My lips also became pale, and I cannot thank enough the — first of all, God — second of all, the 911 caller, the [52nd Precinct] officers that responded… they just assisted me with so much urgency. And the emergency service unit — they completely brought me back to life.”

Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.