SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Five suspects, including the alleged gunman, have been detained in the shooting of former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz, the Dominican Republic’s chief prosecutor said Wednesday.
A sixth suspect is being pursued in the shooting, which witnesses said was carried out by two men on a motorcycle and two other groups of people in cars.
The Dominican Republic’s chief prosecutor Jean Alain Rodriguez spoke at a news conference on Wednesday. Authorities gave the name of the alleged shooter as Rolfy Ferrery, aka Sandy. Prosecutors have said the two men on the motorcycle were seen on security camera footage talking with people in a gray Hyundai Accent and in another Hyundai on a nearby street before the shooting at a popular Santo Domingo bar on Sunday night.
Police Maj. Gen. Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte said the coordinator of the shooting was offered 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to carry out the crime. The director of the Dominican Republic’s National Police has declined to provide a motive for the shooting, but Bautista said in Wednesday’s news conference that the alleged coordinator is one of the suspects detained.
Meanwhile, in Boston, Ortiz’s wife said in a statement that her husband was able to sit up and take some steps as he recuperates in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“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.
Dominican prosecutors said in a court document that one of the suspects, Oliver Moises Mirabal Acosta, was seen driving the Accent before mounting a motorcycle driven by 25-year-old Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia.
“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 Mejia Ricard Street, which is parallel to the place where the event took place,” prosecutors said in the court document.
The document also said that 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.
Feliz Garcia’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.
Mirabal Acosta was captured Tuesday night in the town of Mao in the northern Dominican Republic.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
