SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican prosecutors say witnesses and security camera footage show that the attempt to kill former Red Sox star David Ortiz was carried out by two men on a motorcycle and two other groups of people in cars, indicating a new level of sophistication in the attack.
The details were contained in a court document obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ortiz’s wife said in a statement that the former Red Sox star was able to sit up and take some steps as he recuperates in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
“His condition is guarded, and he will remain in the ICU for the coming days, but he is making good progress toward recovery,” Tiffany Ortiz said in the statement.
In the court document, Dominican prosecutors said one of the shooting suspects, Oliver Moisés Mirabal Acosta, was driving a grey Hyundai Accent before mounting a motorcycle driven by 25-year-old Eddy Vladimir Feliz García.
Prosecutors also said the two men were seen on security camera footage talking with other people in the Accent and in a Hyundai in a nearby street before the shooting at a popular Santo Domingo bar Sunday night.
“In one of the videos it was possible to observe both the accused and the shooter planning the commission of the incident right on Octavio Mejía Ricard Street, which is parallel to the place where the event took place,” prosecutors said in the court document.
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The document also said that a witness told investigators that Feliz Garcia met with a group of people at a park in the Las Caobas neighborhood, where Feliz Garcia lived, around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The witness, a friend of Feliz Garcia, said he didn’t know the group of people, which included a woman.
The document also revealed ineptitude, saying motorcycle driver Feliz Garcia was captured after he skidded and fell off his bike as the pair tried to flee. Enraged fans captured Feliz Garcia and beat him bloody before handing him over to police.
Mirabal Acosta was captured Tuesday night in the town of Mao in the northern Dominican Republic.
Feliz García’s lawyer said his client, who has been charged with being an accomplice to attempted murder, is an innocent motorcycle taxi driver who had no idea his passenger was going to commit a crime.
“He didn’t know what they were going to do. He’s a fan of David’s,” the attorney, Deivi Solano, said Tuesday.
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The 43-year-old Ortiz frequently traveled to Santo Domingo, where his father and a sister live. The former Red Sox slugger was active on the social scene there, hitting nightspots with friends who included TV personalities and Dominican reggaeton musicians.
Beloved in his hometown, Ortíz traveled the dangerous streets of the Dominican capital with little or no security, trusting his fans to protect him, according to friends.
The Dominican Republic is one of the world’s most dangerous countries. The murder rate stands at 12.5 killings per 100,000 people, placing the Dominican Republic in the top 10% to 15% of the most violent countries in the world, according to the U.S. State Department.
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