Judge Keeps Oscar Belgal in ICE Custody After Marble Hill Shooting

Oscar Belgal, the man shot by an ICE agent in Marble Hill on Oct. 8, will stay in custody after a federal judge in Brooklyn turned down his request for release.

In a ruling Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez found that the 28-year-old Dominican father of two had received adequate medical care during his two weeks at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, and that immediate release wasn’t warranted. The order keeps Belgal in ICE detention indefinitely while his immigration case and a federal habeas corpus petition move forward, according to The City Reporter.

Gonzalez wrote that Belgal’s filings described his care as inadequate and dangerous, but that the government’s submissions, including medical records, showed he had received necessary and appropriate care and that his condition is stable. The judge laid out the treatment he said Belgal received at the detention center: prescription medications, wound care and monitoring, and concussion evaluation. He also noted that Belgal was evaluated at Brooklyn Hospital, where he had a CT scan of his head and neck and providers determined he did not need acute surgical care or specialized medical care in custody.

The Legal Aid Society, which represents Belgal, said in a statement that the ruling leaves him detained despite concerns about his deteriorating medical condition. The group said his health should not be put at further risk while he remains in custody. In a federal lawsuit filed shortly after the shooting, his attorneys said he was held in solitary confinement with a bullet still lodged in his neck, had lost sensation in half his face and was getting only ibuprofen for pain. The Bureau of Prisons has said it makes every effort to ensure the physical safety and health of people in its facilities. Complaints about medical care at the Brooklyn jail are common, and The City Reporter has previously covered detainee lawsuits over access to medication and dental treatment.

The shooting itself rattled Marble Hill. Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the back seat of the car he was driving, and passersby scattered as gunfire rang out on the busy street. Surveillance video released by the NYPD shows masked, plainclothes agents rushing his car, smashing the windows and training their weapons on him as he appears to try to drive away. NYPD officials said they found seven shell casings at the scene.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clarke has said her office is leading an investigation with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office; Marble Hill straddles both boroughs’ jurisdictions. The officer who fired has not been publicly identified, and the Department of Homeland Security has defended the agents’ actions. The video also shows ICE supervisor Brenden Cuni, who has been named in a string of violent arrests and cited for lying in court submissions, arriving moments after the shooting in a construction vest with an assault rifle. He does not appear to be the shooter, according to the footage.

In Friday’s filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Shi disputed claims by Belgal’s lawyers that DHS lacked an administrative warrant at the time of the arrest. DHS officials said in court documents that they first targeted Belgal in September and returned in October, citing his criminal history and alleged gang ties. State court records show an open drug case and a grand larceny conviction. DHS also described him as a person of interest in the 2025 shooting of an off-duty border patrol officer in Fort Washington Park; two people have already been sentenced in that case.

Belgal has not been charged with any new criminal offense and is held on civil immigration violations. His attorneys deny any gang affiliation and say DHS has offered no evidence of one.