There's nothing unusual about the belt. In fact, it's just a plain old money belt purchased from the local Wal-Mart. But Balkar Singh of Whitehall Township says a belt, identical to this one, probably saved his life after a gun-wielding attacker shot him in the back.
"It went through the belt and uh you know it did hit my back but it didn't go too deep to do a lot of damage so the paramedic took the bullet right out right here in the driveway."
It happened over the weekend. Balkar says he was outside of his home smoking a final cigarette before going to bed. He says a stranger then simply walked up asking Balkar if he had an extra cigarette. That's when the man allegedly pulled out a gun and a brief struggle ensued.
"I tried to be quick to grab his hand so I could fight him off and uh the next thing you know he pulled back and bam!"
The bullet was headed straight for the base of his spine, but it had to go through his money belt first. The leather, the built in money pouch and the back zipper slowed the bullet enough to where it only broke the skin on his lower back. And now Balkar is thanking his lucky stars.
"It's not my time to go you know I'm still here you know and I'm still going to be here it's unbelievable."
Neighbors here say what's equally unbelievable is the fact that a random gunman was apparently roaming the streets of the otherwise sleepy Lehigh Valley town.
"I've never seen anything out of the ordinary here it's quiet," said Patricia Gilyard.
"It's scary because I take the dog for a walk all the time right in front of that house a lot of the time so I was really surprised," said Penny Sedovy.
In an odd twist Balkar told Action News that he was recently involved in an horrific car crash, the crash occurred August 27th, the shooting happened March 27th and both times he walked away with only minor injuries. Meantime local investigators are working on a composite sketch of the shooting as the investigation continues.
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