Lawyers say Belgal has not received surgery for bullet lodged in neck
The Legal Aid Society filed the petition in Brooklyn federal court seeking Belgal’s release. Belgal’s lawyers wrote that he had picked up his son from school and stopped in front of a fire hydrant looking for a parking spot when “an anonymous, masked man” ran up to the vehicle with his gun drawn, followed by other masked men with guns.
“The men did not identify themselves, show any documents or otherwise communicate with Oscar in any substantive way,” the petition said. “Instead, without identifying himself, the first man struck and shattered Oscar’s window and began firing a pistol into Oscar’s car while his son cowered in the back seat. One of those bullets struck Oscar in the neck and he immediately began to bleed.”
NYPD security camera footage released last week shows part of the encounter but does not conclusively resolve the dispute over how the shooting happened. A man wearing a sweatshirt and a red hat runs up to the car with his gun pointed at Belgal, then uses the barrel to bash the driver’s side window. The window shatters on the second blow. A second officer comes into view alongside the car and draws his weapon, and Belgal pulls into the street away from the two officers. The car exits the camera frame with the officer in the red hat in pursuit.
What happened next did not appear on the NYPD’s security cameras, The Guardian reported. The chase ended a moment later with Belgal’s damaged car resting against a concrete barrier, its windshield and a rear window struck by bullets. Video from bystanders and NYPD body camera footage shows ICE officers handcuffing Belgal and tending to his gunshot wound as he sat on the pavement outside the car. NYPD officers took Belgal to a nearby hospital.
DHS did not comment Wednesday on the claims in the Legal Aid filing, saying the incident remained under investigation. DHS officials have maintained that ICE officers fired their weapons because they believed their lives were in danger.
Belgal’s lawyers said he did not learn the men were ICE officers until he awoke in the hospital. According to the petition, Belgal remains detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, has yet to receive surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his neck, has lost sensation on the left side of his face, and now has impaired hearing. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages the jail, did not immediately comment.