Andel Alvarez Charged Criminally Despite Being Paralyzed

Andel Jamaal Alvarez

Twenty-seven-year-old Andel Jamaal Alvarez was discharged from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital earlier today, eleven days after he was shot by police in Punta Gorda.  Alvarez has been left paralyzed following the incident, but that did not stop prosecutors from charging him with six counts, including aggravated assault, firearm related offenses and handling stolen goods. On the night of January fourteenth, Punta Gorda police were responding to a report of a shooting on Mahogany Street.  They were in looking for two armed suspects on a motorcycle.  That’s when Police Constable Luella Whyte encountered Alvarez traveling on a motorcycle headed in the opposition from the police mobile.  Alvarez was reportedly told to stop, but instead he allegedly attempted to flee the scene.  When the officers gave chase, Alvarez’s motorcycle malfunctioned and he attempted to make good his escape on foot.  The officers pursued him and that’s when Alvarez is said to have produced a firearm and pointed it in her direction.  Fearing for her life, PC Whyte fired at him with her service weapon, injuring him in the upper left shoulder.  Earlier today, Alvarez was arraigned outside of the lower court by Senior Magistrate Tricia Pitts Anderson, as he remained inside the police vehicle.  He was granted bail in the sum of ten thousand dollars.