A father of four who makes his living as a deliveryman may never walk again after he was shot in his back during a highway chase in the early hours of Sunday morning.
He is 33-year-old Feliciano Novelo who is tonight in a stable condition in the KHMH with a gunshot wound to his back. Novelo was in his Geo Prizm along with his common-law wife and they were leaving the parking lot of the San Narciso Community Center in Orange Walk when he says he asked the owner of a red car to allow him to exit. Novelo claims the driver of the red car didn't take that request kindly, and gun violence ensued.
Feliciano Novelo, Shooting Victim
"I was passing and he hit the tail of my car and then he chased behind me and he hit the tail of my car again. And he started to shoot and suddenly I felt like my foot went dead and I couldn't mash the brakes or nothing. So I told my wife that they hit me and so we stopped so she could jump in the driver's seat and they didn't stop, they drove past us."
Marleny Suarez, Victim's Wife
"I was in the emergency room with my husband and I had already given the officer the key to my car because he said he had to take the car to the police station for the investigation. So I gave him the key and I hurriedly went to the emergency to see my husband because they were going to send him to Belize City. Well then he went and he told me that he found two bullets on the chair. He asked me where was the gun and I told him we didn't have any gun."
Feliciano Novelo,
"I am here and the doctors are keeping me under observation. They told me that in about fifteen days I will find out if I will be able to walk again because right now I cannot move my legs.
I am mad because if I had done something to endanger his life I would understand but all I did was ask him to move. The two police officers who were working the karaoke in San Narciso saw how he hit my vehicle and continued to chase me."
Marion Ali, LOVE Fm
"Were you drinking at the time?"
Feliciano Novelo,
"Yes I was drinking, but I wasn't drunk. I don't know if I'll be able to move my feet again. That is what I am thinking of every night and every minute."
7NEWS understands that the driver of the red car who allegedly shot Novelo was an off duty customs officer. He was detained by police yesterday morning and was to have been charged with use of deadly means of harm and harm, but as we understand it, police consulted the DPP, who instructed them to stand down on charges while he reviews the file. Police investigators believe it is far from a clear-cut case because they say live and expended shells were found in Novelo's car. As you saw in the interview, Novelo's family strongly disputes that claim.
