Authorities are investigating if a migrant, killed while attempting to rob an off-duty NYPD officer, was linked to the same moped group suspected of shooting a border patrol agent last month, according to sources speaking to The Post.
Lahione Soto, 30, an unauthorized immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was fatally shot at around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. This incident follows roughly a month after another Dominican migrant was implicated in the shooting of an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent in the face during a robbery attempt, leaving him severely injured.
“Investigators are looking into the possibility it’s the same gang,” a law enforcement source indicated on Monday, referring to the similar robbery style, location, and method of operation.
“They’re obviously looking to see if they’re part of that same robbery pattern involving the CBP agent shot,” the source said.
Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, aged 21, also an unauthorized immigrant with a criminal history, faced charges for shooting the federal agent amidst a robbery in Manhattan’s Fort Washington Park on July 15. The agent fired back, wounding Mora.
On Sunday, Soto was reportedly engaged in a robbery spree on two-wheeled vehicles across The Bronx and northern Manhattan. He allegedly drew a firearm on the off-duty NYPD officer at the intersection of West 173rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, police stated.
The cop pulled out his weapon and fired, killing Soto while his accomplice sped away.
Soto had unlawfully entered the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, in June the previous year, while Mora was detained for illegal entry in April 2023, according to officials.
Moped robbery crews began terrorizing the Big Apple after thousands of migrants from the US border began flooding into the five boroughs after 2022, authorities say.
The influx allowed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to establish a foothold in the city, including by dispatching crews of armed moped-riding crooks to pull off heists, typically in pairs.
The number of serious moped-related crimes then plummeted around the beginning of this year thanks to what law-enforcement sources call “the Trump Effect” — or President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants after taking office.
According to police statistics, there were 461 major crimes involving mopeds or scooters in the city between December 2020 and April 20, 2021.
That number jumped to 792 for the same period in 2022 and skyrocketed to 1,626 in 2023 and 1,785 last year, respectively.
As of April 20 this year, the number for the same time frame was at 166.
But the numbers are on the rise again — with the groups back to feeling emboldened and moving uptown and striking — such as in the case of the CPB agent and the off-duty NYPD cop, sources said.
