Bragg Indicts Illegal Migrant Duo for Upper Manhattan Fed Cop Shooting

The two moped-riding illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic who attempted to rob, and did shoot, an off-duty federal Border Patrol agent in the face on July 19, 2025, have been indicted and arraigned on murder and assault charges.

Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 21, and Christhian Aybar-Berroa, 22, who were arrested shortly after the near-fatal attack, were already facing federal weapons and accessory charges.

Since then, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has thrown the full weight of his considerable book of New York State law at them.

It’s worth highlighting that duo’s assault upon the federal cop wasn’t in any way political. The 42-year-old male victim was out of uniform. It could have been anyone.

Earlier that evening, it allegedly was, when at 11:45pm, they allegedly stole a woman’s cell phone in Fort Washington Park. With Aybar-Berroa driving, Nunez, who the victim believed had a gun or knife in his waistband, grabbed the phone and sped away.

There has been a vastly increased number of moped- and scooter- riding robbery crews since the migrant crisis began.

In the 34th Precinct, for example, where Nunez and Aybar-Berroa launched their fateful final crime spree, there have been 213 felony assaults as of Aug. 17; a 5.3% decrease over 2024 but, perhaps tellingly, a 60.2% increase over 2010.

In any event, a few minutes after and about 100 yards away from the phone robbery, the Dominican duo targeted a man and a woman, sitting near the Hudson River. Unbeknownst to Aybar-Berroa and Nunez, the man was an off-duty and out-of-uniform federal Customs and Border Patrol officer.

Aybar-Berroa allegedly tried to rob the couple. In the violence that followed, the officer was shot twice, while Aybar-Berroa was wounded in the leg and groin.

Nunez fled with Aybar-Berroa on the motorbike, with Nunez dropping his wounded accomplice off at a hospital about 20 minutes later.

If the federal charges presented in United States of America v. Miguel Francsico Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa seemed relatively minor, consisting of one count of possession of ammunition by an illegal alien against Nunez, and accessory after the fact against Aybar-Berroa, DA Bragg’s state case against them is anything but minor. Mora Nunez was arraigned, from his hospital bed, on attempted first- and second-degree murder charges. Aybar-Berroa was hit with robbery, assault, and weapons charges.

Both men pled not guilty, and remain in federal custody without bail.

It has been reported that both men had been arrested crossing into the country but were released pending future immigration hearings. It has also reported that both had already been arrested by NYPD numerous times—and then set free.