By Wendy Anders

Jason Noah Feinman barely survived being shot 14 times while pulling out of a bakery parking lot in downtown Escazú on the morning of March 18, 2015.

This week he gave testimony via videoconference as the trial of two men suspected of the homicide attempt began in Pavas, a western San José neighborhood, reported La Nación, Costa Rica’s leading Spanish daily.

Speaking from Los Angeles, California, Feinman recounted the horrific episode that nearly ended his life, “I was pulling out of the parking lot and was handing money to the guard when two motorcyclists came by on the street and almost hit my car, and stopped next to my window about 1 meter away. The man on the back of the motorcycle got down, came up to my window, took out a pistol and pointed it at my chest,” reported La Nación.

Feinman thought they wanted to rob his car, but then they started shooting,

“I raised my knees and lifted my hands to protect my face. That was after the first four shots. When I lifted my legs, my car started to move slowly and he continued firing. I managed to get to the other side of the car, opened the passenger door and jumped. I started crawling to use the car as a shield and all I could think was that he was going to come up behind me and shoot me in the head. But then I heard the motorcycle take off and my car crashed into another car. I was lying in the street and there were a lot of people around,” related Feinman.

In total, said La Nación, Feinman received one shot in the neck, four in the thorax, three in his right arm, and three in each leg. The ambulance took six minutes to arrive before transferring him to the San Juan de Dios Hospital in downtown San José.

He was in a coma for two days, and then was transferred to a private hospital in Escazú, said La Nación. He took about eight months to recover, and then returned to the United States as he fears for his life here. He says that although he has regained his physical health, he still suffers from frequent panic attacks.

The 42-year-old Feinman, worked in real estate during the ten years prior to the attack when he lived in Costa Rica, and had no criminal record or problems of any sort when the attack was carried out. He still has business here as well as a daughter who he visits every three months or so. He travels with bodyguards when he is in Costa Rica, reported La Nación.

The motives behind the homicide attempt are still unknown, but the victim believes it may have something to do with a case of extorsion of the head of a company with which Feinman’s family had made a large investment, said La Nación.

The suspects are a 22-year-old man named Calvo and a 28-year-old man named Solís. Calvo was apparently the motorcycle driver, and Solís is suspected of firing upon Feinman. They were arrested in August by the Judicial Investigative Agency police (OIJ) and have been held in police custody since then.