Police were searching for two suspects who fled after the early-morning attack outside a Bayside home.
NEW YORK CITY, NY — A father and his 23-year-old son were stabbed and slashed early Friday after an encounter with two men suspected of trying to steal a moped outside a home in Bayside, Queens, according to police and members of the family.
The attack happened shortly before 12:30 a.m. Aug. 28 on 201st Street near 40th Road. Police said the younger man suffered stab wounds to his head, lower back and right shoulder. His father was wounded in the knee and slashed across the abdomen. Both men were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital and were reported in stable condition.
Investigators were treating the confrontation as an attempted robbery and were searching for two suspects who fled south on 201st Street on a moped. Police said one suspect was last seen wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans. The other was dressed in black and wore a helmet. No arrests had been announced by Friday night.
Family members said the confrontation began after the younger man heard noises outside and discovered two men around a moped in the driveway. His brother, Leder Zambrano, told WABC that the 23-year-old went outside to confront them and was attacked. Zambrano said their father then came outside and was also injured during the struggle.
Julio Zambrano, the father, gave Spectrum News NY1 additional details about the encounter. He said the family initially stopped the men from taking a moped and brought it back. According to his account, the men returned about 15 minutes later, saying they had dropped a phone, and another confrontation followed. The accounts describe the same attack but differ in some details about the sequence leading up to it.
Julio Zambrano was back home later Friday with relatively minor injuries, while his son remained hospitalized, according to NY1. He said one of the family’s mopeds is important to his son’s work delivering food for DoorDash. Police had not publicly identified either suspect or announced a possible motive beyond the suspected robbery.
The family also told WABC that the suspects may have left a cellphone behind before fleeing. Police had not publicly confirmed that investigators recovered a phone or described what evidence, if any, was collected at the scene. Officers were also seeking surveillance footage from the neighborhood as they worked to identify the two men, NY1 reported.
The attack occurred within the NYPD’s 111th Precinct, which covers Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows. WABC reported that police data showed 30 robberies in the precinct through Aug. 23, compared with 24 during the same period in 2025, an increase of 25%.
Neighbors described the residential block as normally quiet and expressed concern after learning about the violence. Police continued searching for the two suspects as of Friday night, and authorities had not released their identities or announced any arrests.
Author note: Last updated August 29, 2026.