Innocent NJ man beaten by police while on fire after car wreck speaks out
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- An innocent man who was kicked and beaten by police while he was on fire after a car wreck spoke to Eyewitness News about his ordeal.
The burns, on his back, his hands, and knee will leave him scarred forever. The pain some days, even now, is unbearable.
"I feel a lot of pain," he said in Spanish. "I wake up every night like I'm on fire or being kicked."
The fire haunts 28-year-old Miguel Feliz's sleep. He was driving home from work last month on Tonnelle Avenue, when his car was struck by someone leading police on a six mile chase.
The two cars exploded in flames. He remembers escaping his car on fire and seeing police.
"I remember thinking finally they're going to help me," he said. "But it was completely the opposite."
Cell phone video shows the officers kicking Feliz, breaking his ribs, and then, he said, police dragged him away.
Watch the cellphone video below:
"The video gives me goosebumps," Feliz said. "It brings me back. I was in a lot of pain because of the burns. When the seatbelt wouldn't come off, I closed my eyes and saw my family, my son."
Feliz suffered burns over 30-percent of his body. The police officers who kicked him are being investigated for their conduct.
The driver of the car that was being chased by police that night, was charged with assault and eluding police.
