Kenyan Man Shot in NJ Robbery Attempt, Seeks help with Funds
Patrick Kagotho (bandaged arm) with his wife Alice Muturi (behind him), his father, Joseph Kienja, his mother, Beatrice Kagotho, his brother, Buruburu Kagotho and three o this four children at his family at his residence in Worcester, Mass.. Kagotho escaped with his life after a robber shot him in Newark, New Jersey. H.Maina/Ajabu Images |
By Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News , Posted October 21, 2010
In what sounded like a scene straight from Hollywood movies, a Kenyan truck driver escaped death by the skin of his teeth when he was shot in Newark, New Jersey by a gangster who was trying to steal a car he was delivering to a client.
Left handicapped by the wound, but happy to be alive, Patrick Kagotho, a father of four from Worcester Mass., is pleading with his community for financial assistance as he waits to recover his full functionality and go back to work.
A fund raising has been scheduled to take place this Saturday at his family’s home Worcester, Mass,. starting at 4pm.
Kagotho , a self employed driver, operates in several states mainly New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
But on Thursday October 7 this year, Kagotho who has been a delivery driver for the last 6 years, was in high spirits as he got ready for a delivery run that would take him from his home town of Worcester Mass., to Newark NJ, then to Allentown, PA, to end in Philadelphia, also in PA.
“I was in a rush and had to ask my wife and children to bring me a snack to eat at the point we usually park our trailers in Milbury.I had just picked up car from a client to deliver to another client”, Kagotho told Ajabu Africa News from his home in Worcester.
After saying good bye to his family, Kagotho proceeded to Hartford Connecticut where he picked up two more cars with his Dodge Ram truck.
Usually, on a normal night, Kagotho leaves home at 1am in the night so that he can arrive at his various destinations on time for early morning deliveries.
But on the fateful night, one of the clients in New Jersey requested him to deliver between 10pm and 1am at night as he would not be available in the morning.
Patrick Kagotho stands by his truck for the Intra-America Motor Carriers business he operates with his elder brother, Stephen Kenja |
“I thought that would be good as it would save me time to go back and forth between the two cities in PA as the schedule to deliver would be much easier, so I agreed”.
And therefore as Kagotho set out on Interstate 95 South from Connecticut to New York then to New Jersey, everything looked normal and life looked promising.
“I was calling other truck drivers and friends on my cell phone to chat as we usually do with comrades in the business to make I made my way to New Jersey”, said the veteran driver who has never lacked jobs even during the height of the economic recession that the USA is climbing out of.
But at about 11pm, as he was crossing the George Washington Bridge in New York into the New Jersey section of the bridge, the client called him and demanded to know how far he was from the destination.
“I told him I was about 1hour to 1.5 hour away, but he insisted that would be too long and that he would not wait anymore”, Kagotho said. “He told me to go figure out a solution with the client who sent the 2011 Toyota Tundra to him”.
After several attempts to have the client wait some more, the client hanged up the phone and would not pick it up anymore so Kagotho had to figure out what to do with the Tundra truck he was supposed to deliver.
But luckily, Kagotho knew a group of Kenyans who operated a storage warehouse in Newark New Jersey on partnership basis where they could temporality store loads that are in transit.
“I called the Kenyan friends to inform them that I needed to come in and store a Toyota tundra truck there temporarily so that I could deliver the two other cars as I figure out what to do with the truck in question”, Kagotho said.
“Nobody picked up the phone so I decided to just drive there directly as it was only about 10 minutes away from the delivery point of the truck, and I found the guys there busily playing darts and drafts to pass time”, he added.
Glad to have found his Kenyan friends, Kagotho called a friend on his cell phone to tell him he had found the Kenyans in the warehouse and that he was now about to offload the truck and continue with his journey to PA to deliver the two other cars he had.
Since the car to be offloaded first is the one that is loaded last, Kagotho climbed into the Tundra truck lying on back of his trailer so he can back it up and offload it.
He turned on the ignition key and stuck his head out of the window to start backing out the truck off the trailer.
Then all of a sudden, a hooded figure went across the back of the truck and Kagotho had to brake hard so that he does not hit the man.
In a split of a second, Kagotho felt a cold metal pressing on his jaw and saw a masked man who had gloves on his hands right next to him ordering him to get out.
“Get out of this car now”, the snarled.
Kagotho got very shocked but decided to follow the orders coolly and slowly hoping that a cop might be passing by and notice the robbery in progress.
“Car, get out of this car?” I asked the man again trying to buy some extra time but no police car was passing nearby, so I thought now I am as good as dead” Kagotho recounted to Ajabu Africa News.
He said that from what he had heard, over 90% of car robberies in New Jersey end up in fatalities since the robbers figure that if they kill the victim, then they can buy some time so they can go use the cars to commit other planned crimes before anyone raises an alert.
Since the man was so close to me, I heard him release the trigger and I knew I was about to die.
The thought dying just like that and leaving his wife and children with problems caused Kagotho’s survival instincts to kick in.
“I instinctively grabbed the muzzle ("mouth") of the gun and turned it away from my face”.
"Then I moved my hand from the "mouth" of the gun because I expected a shot to come out anytime”.
Patrick Kagotho demonstrates how he grabbed the muzzle of the gun in a deadly fight to stay alive. |
And surely, a shot rang out in the dark of the night but it did not hurt Kagotho as it was misdirected in the scuffle between the two men as the robber struggled to pull the gun from Kagotho’s grip. It was not a matter of life and death from this point on.
Caught unawares by the unexpected development, the robber managed to free the gun away from Kagotho but appeared frantic and scared.
He was looking from side to side and behind him to see if anyone was seeing what was going on. So by instinct Kagotho realized that he must move in closer to the robber to minimize the distance between them so that the robber does not get a good position to take a clean shot at him.
As I moved close, he kept moving backwards toward the rear of the trailer to create space. I moved in some more hoping that as we reach the rear of the trailer, I could get some space to dive for cover and disappear around the other cars parked in the storage area.
It was when they were struggling for position that Kagotho felt like pain in my right arm as if something had hit my “funny bone’ as and at the same time felt as if his arm was slightly tapped.
A third shot rang out in the night and now the robber turnedback and was ran away across the street and into the darkness.
Feeling pain and seeing blood pouring from his right arm, Kagotho then dashed into the warehouse to his Kenyan countrymen only for him to see them taking cover underneath other cars parked inside.
“Hey, did they shoot you”, asked one Kenyan man from underneath a car.
“Call 911”, another Kenyan yelled another Kenyan peeping from behind a trash barrel as the 10 or so other Kenyans started coming out of their safely areas.
“They told me that in Newark, there is always gunshots going off and when you hear one close to you, you first take cover then feel yourself to make sure it was not you who was shot, that is why they could not come out to help me”, Kagotho told Ajabu Africa laughingly in retrospect.
Kagotho said that between the time the gun was pointed to his face and the time he went into the warehouse, it took less than two minutes.
After placing the 911 call, the first responders from the police arrived in less than two minutes but by then the robber was long gone into the darkness. The police asked for a description of the man and the direction he fled to, as EMT’s were performing first Aid on Kagotho who was now staring at a big hole on the top of his right arm where the bullet came out after entering through his index finger.
He felt extreme heat all over his body and his visions started getting blurry as emergency crews rushed him to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) where he underwent a major surgery on his shattered fingers and arm. He woke up on Friday evening to see his wife, his father and mother all from Worcester by his side having been informed of the development by their elder son who is also a truck driver. View injury pictures here.Warning: The pictures are graphic. Watch at your own discretion
“We were all very shocked when we heard the news. When you hear someone has been shot, you first think they are dead”, said Kagotho’s father, Joseph Kenja, who is a brother to the popular Kenyan gospel artist, Lucy Muthumbi (Wasaimo) of Lowell.
Buruburu Kagotho dresses his brothers gunshot wound as the children watch oblivious of how close their father came to death |
Kagotho is now recuperating at home with shattered fingers and a big injury to his arm. Doctors estimate that he will not be able to use his arm for several months. He can not lift anything with his right hand and has to undergo length therapies to regain use of the arm.
With his wife being a stay at home mom to take care of their four children, 13, 4 and two twins of 2.5 years, Kagotho is slowly facing another reality of dwindling funds to keep his family going even with the help that he is getting from his extended family.
“It's quite difficult to make ends meet especially having been the only bread winner in the family”, said the man who 2 months ago narrowly escaped death again after his truck was involved in a major accident as he approached New York from New Jersey.
"I now realize the importance of having all insurances in place especially of you have a family”, said the young father, wishing he had purchased an disability insurance and a life insurance since he had came face to face with death while he was totally unprepared.
“When I get back to work, the first thing to do will be to purchase life insurance and disability insurance that would now be paying me some income”, said the father regretting why he had not done so before.
Sympathizing with the literally disabled young man who is sitting at home with his wife and four children, friends have organized a get together this coming Saturday, October 23rd, to celebrate the miracle of being alive of their compatriot as well as help him with funds to keep his family going until he fully recovers his ability to work.
They are inviting all members of the Kenyan community and friends who may also want to help to come and celebrate together with the family.
We just want to celebrate his being alive and also let other Kenyans in America know that it looks like these tragedies can come to anyone at anytime without warning”, said Kagotho’s father.
Two weeks ago, another Kenyan man was shot in the head in Iowa but he also cheated death narrowly. No further details have come across about the man since then. Read here >>
The event will take place at the family’s home in 57 Park Terrace, Road Worcester 01604 starting 4pm.
For more information, contact:
Patrick Kagotho: 508-873-9599
Joseph Kenja : 508-736-5268
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