The criminal illegal immigrant who was shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the Bronx last week is complaining about the conditions inside prison and claims he has been mistreated.
In a Sunday evening statement shared with The Daily Wire, the attorneys for 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, who has a lengthy rap sheet and apparent gang ties, claimed he had not eaten since Thursday and had not received proper medical care while detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The lawyers, who are from the Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York, claimed Belgal “has endured horrific conditions” and remains at the federal prison with a bullet “lodged in his neck” without undergoing surgery they say is needed.
“Mr. Belgal is living through an unimaginable nightmare,” the attorneys said. “While he is currently in solitary confinement, a bullet remains lodged in his neck, the left side of his face is numb, and he can barely hear out of his left ear. Doctors have told him he urgently needs surgery, but that the procedure was too dangerous to perform Thursday evening without a specialized surgeon present.”
“Although he was instructed to return to the hospital this week, he has been left in the dark about whether that surgery will even happen. He is also suffering from a shoulder wound caused by shattered glass during the incident. Rather than receiving the urgent medical attention, care, and compassion he desperately needs. Mr. Belgal reports being confined to a solitary cell, where he is forced to relive the terrifying moments of being shot. He says he has not eaten a single meal since Thursday and has been told that the only water available to him comes from a bathroom sink,” they added.
Belgal’s attorneys vowed to “fight” for his “immediate release from detention.”
ICE officers were attempting to arrest Belgal last Thursday before the shooting took place, agency officials said during a press conference on Friday. It was their second attempt at arresting him, after the Dominican national fled from ICE officers in September.
During the latest arrest, Belgal, who had a 5-year-old child in the car, refused orders to exit his vehicle after officers boxed him in, said Marcos Charles, executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Belgal allegedly accelerated and struck two ICE vehicles.
He then “weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate, going towards other officers” before the officers opened fire, Charles said.
“Our officers … believing that their life and the life of the general public was in danger, used their training and fired weapons,” Charles said.
Belgal was struck “superficially” in the neck by “one of the bullets or fragments,” Charles said. He was swiftly taken to the hospital.
The illegal immigrant has a criminal conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons possession, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On December 7, 2023, the NYPD arrested Belgal, but released him days later without notifying ICE due to sanctuary laws.
He is also allegedly tied to the Trinitarios gang, which is linked to the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer last year, DHS said. Federal authorities believe Belgal may be connected to the earlier shooting.
“The gang that he runs with is known for theft using weapons and mopeds,” Charles said.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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