Man Stabs Building Employee During Wellness Check In Harlem, DA Says

HARLEM, NY — A man was sentenced to seven years in state prison for stabbing a maintenance employee who worked at his apartment building in Harlem during a wellness check, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Thursday.

According to Bragg, the incident was back on June 17, 2021, when two social workers entered an apartment on Saint Nicholas Avenue in Harlem, accompanied by building staff, to check in on a 61-year-old tenant with a history of mental illness.

The social workers had made prior attempts to check in on the tenant, but they were unsuccessful due to his roommate, Cirus Cid-Mejia, 46, refusing entry, Bragg said.

Bragg said that a previous visit revealed that the 61-year-old was sleeping in the closet of the studio apartment, and Cid-Mejia had full control over the rest of the house, despite not being listed as an authorized tenant on the lease or paying rent.

That visit and other concerns prompted social workers to seek a court order to access the apartment and speak with the 61-year-old on June 17, 2021, Bragg said.

On June 17, 2021, the social workers had a court order authorizing entry to the apartment, and Cid-Mejia threatened to kill anyone who set foot in the apartment, at which point the social workers called 911, Bragg said.

While 911 was being called, Cid-Mejia threw a cooking pot and then charged at the maintenance worker with a kitchen knife, stabbing him in the stomach, Bragg said.

When police arrived, the maintenance worker and the 61-year-old were taken to Harlem Hospital, Bragg said. The worker received several stitches for a punctured stomach, Bragg said.

“Cirus Cid-Mejia brutally stabbed a building maintenance employee who was assisting social workers in a court ordered wellness check on a 61-year-old tenant,” Bragg said. “These workers were only trying to do their jobs and assist in the protection of a vulnerable New Yorker. We will not stand by when hardworking Manhattanites are attacked. I hope the victim continues to heal from the assault.”

Cid=Mejia was convicted by a New York State Supreme Court jury of one count each of attempted assault in the first degree and assault in the second degree, Bragg said.

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