A career criminal was busted in the stray bullet shooting of a 17-year-old girl – part of an apparently gang-related burst of violence following the city’s Mexican Day Parade that also included a man getting stabbed, cops and sources said Monday.
Joel Nieves, 35, was charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession for the Sunday evening shooting in Midtown that left the innocent teen with a gunshot wound to the left shoulder, authorities said.
The Bronx man — who has at least 10 prior arrests — allegedly opened fire at the corner of 27th Street and Park Avenue around 5 p.m., wounding the teen girl, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to cops.
The explosion of gun violence came moments after a 24-year-old man was stabbed around the corner on 28th Street and Madison Avenue, police said.
The suspect in that attack, a 14-year-old boy, was arrested and charged with gang assault, police said.
The victim was stabbed in the buttocks, also leaving him hospitalized in stable condition, cops said.
While Nieves faces no charges in connection to the knifing, investigators believe he was part of a group, including the teen suspect, that became violent soon after the parade wrapped up in the area, sources said.
Both the shooting and the stabbing appear to be gang-related, according to the sources.
Cops could not immediately confirm whether either Nieves or the 14-year-old had gang affiliations.
But Nieves’ lengthy rap sheet dates back to at least 2006, according to sources.
His most recent bust before his arrest in Sunday’s shooting was for reckless driving and related offenses in August 2023, according to cops and prosecutors.
According to a criminal complaint, Nieves was allegedly riding without a helmet on a moped with a
stolen license plate that was bent and obscured when cops tried to pull him over at Tillary and Jay streets in downtown Brooklyn. He sped off, whizzing against the flow of traffic for six blocks as he blew lights and stop signs and swerved into bike lanes, the court document charges.
A judge issued a warrant for Nieves’ arrest on July 12 after he missed a court date in connection to that case, according to prosecutors.
Nieves was also previously arrested for criminal possession of a weapon in October 2017 in Queens, according to law enforcement sources. The disposition of that case was not immediately known.
In August 2013, Nieves and another man were busted for allegedly shoving a woman down to the ground before grabbing her phone and purse on the Upper East Side, according to a criminal complaint.
Both ultimately pleaded guilty in 2014 to second-degree attempted robbery and were sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation, according to the DA’s office.
Nieves was also arrested in February 2012 for a violation of local law, in November 2008 for fare evasion; in January 2008 for obstruction of governmental administration; in October 2007 for marijuana sales; in March of that same year on a riot charge; and in December and April of 2006 for weapon possession and menacing, respectively, sources said.
