An enraged Bronx driver was slapped with attempted murder charges Wednesday after he allegedly opened fire on an off-duty NYPD detective in Queens last month, officials said.
Alexis Morillo, 40, went berserk after the detective driving behind him on the Long Island Expressway near the Cross Island Parkway switched lanes before pulling in front of his SUV on Sept. 17 around 12:20 a.m., according to authorities.
Morillo, of the Bronx, allegedly changed lanes, matched the off-duty detective’s speed, screamed and then shot at him in an “apparent fit of road rage,” the Queens District Attorney’s office said.
A bullet struck the detective’s passenger side door.
The off-duty cop pursued Morillo before calling authorities and reporting his license plate, prosecutors said.
The detective lost sight of Morillo once they reached the Horace Harding Expressway.
After the shooting, Morillo ditched the Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 SUV — which was registered to his girlfriend — in Astoria and hopped into an Uber to his home in the Bronx, prosecutors alleged.
Morillo was hit with a laundry list of charges including attempted murder in the second degree, attempted assault, reckless driving and unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the detective “nearly lost his life in a mindless act of violence.”
“We cannot relent in our efforts to get guns off the street and will continue to do all we can to keep our detectives and communities safe,” Katz said in a statement.
Morillo faces up to 25 years in prison if he’s convicted. He is due back in court on Nov. 20.
