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Man Shot Trying to Stop Car Thief in Williamsburg, Police Say

By  Trevor Kapp and Aidan Gardiner | April 13, 2016 8:49am | Updated on April 13, 2016 10:18am

 He was shot stopping Hector Bello on South Second Street, police said.
He was shot stopping Hector Bello on South Second Street, police said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

WILLIAMSBURG — A man was shot in the leg by a car thief he tried to stop from breaking into an SUV on South Second Street Tuesday afternoon, police and witnesses said.

The man spotted 44-year-old Hector Bello — who's previously been arrested twice for murder — carrying tools in his hands and trying to break into a a Jeep Wrangler outside 44 S. Second St. near Hewes Street, just before 4 p.m., and NYPD spokesman said.

The 28-year-old and two other men raced out of a nearby building and confronted Bello as he was smashing his way into the car, according to a teenager who lives nearby.

"He broke the driver's side window. Three guys came down and they started beating him up," the teen said.

The man tried to stop Bello and hold him until police arrived, but Bello pulled out a gun and shot him in the right leg, officials said.

"Three guys were holding him down. then he took out the gun. [He] was so strong. He shook them off," said Juan Perez, 32, who lives on the block.

"I heard three shots, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!' I ran inside the building," Perez said.

Police arrived in time to arrest Bello before he could escape, witnesses said.

The victim was taken away in an ambulance, witnesses said. The gun was still on the ground after the shooting, they added.

"[The victim] was OK because he was standing up. Then they put him on a stretcher and took him away," the teenage neighbor said.

The victim was treated at Bellevue Hospital where he's listed in stable condition, police said. There were no other reported injuries.

Bello, who lives in Bushwick, was arrested on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Bello has a long criminal history dating back to 1990 when he was arrested for assault and driving while intoxicated, according to authorities.

He was arrested for murder in August 1991, robbery in February 1993, burglary in December 1994, murder again in July 1997 and for possession of a forged instrument in December 2014, police said.