Six arrested in Ortiz shooting
Alleged coordinator was paid $7,800 to pull off attack
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — An alleged gunman and five accomplices have been detained in the shooting of former Red Sox superstar David Ortiz, Dominican officials said Wednesday, while providing no information about why a group of young men would try to kill their country’s most beloved sports hero.
Four other suspects were also being pursued in the shooting, which witnesses said was carried out by two men on a motorcycle, assisted by two other groups of people in cars.
“At this moment, they are being interrogated and we will continue deepening the investigation to get to the truth about what happened,” Chief Prosecutor Jean Alain Rodriguez said.
“Nobody involved in this unfortunate episode will escape justice, neither those who carried it out nor the mastermind,” he said.
The national police director, Maj. Gen. Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte, said the coordinator of the attack was offered 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to orchestrate the shooting. He said the alleged coordinator was also among those in custody.
Rodriguez and Bautista declined to give a motive for the shooting at a popular Santo Domingo bar Sunday night or say who had hired the attackers.
They promised, however, that all those who targeted Ortiz in the baseball-crazy Caribbean country would be brought to justice.
Ortiz is one of the most beloved figures in sports history in the Dominican Republic and Boston, a fearsome power hitter with a ready smile. The slugger known as Big Papi led the Red Sox to three World Series championships, was a 10-time All-star and hit 541 home runs.
The Red Sox retired his No. 34 in 2017 — a year after he retired — and Boston renamed a bridge and a stretch of road outside Fenway Park in his honor. He maintains a home in Weston, on the outskirts of Boston.
While Ortiz lived in Boston, he visited the Dominican Republic at least six times a year, where he crossed paths with a wide variety of figures from the country’s legitimate and illegal business worlds, according to friends.
Ortiz studiously avoided mixing with shady characters, but a law-enforcement official said on condition of anonymity that officials were investigating whether Ortiz may have formed some relationship or acquaintance during a trip here that, without his knowledge, set off the chain of events leading to his shooting.
Among the suspects in custody was the alleged shooter, identified by authorities as Rolfy Ferreyra, 25, aka Sandy, who officials said had confessed to the shooting.
In a statement, officials said the weapon used, a Browning semi-automatic pistol, had been handed to suspect Oliver Moises Mirabal Acosta, then to suspect Porfirio Allende Dechamps Vasquez, aka The Kid, who buried it in the garden of his home.
Both men have been arrested and the gun has been recovered.
Also under arrest were Joel Rodriguez de la Cruz, aka Squiddy; Reynaldo Rodriguez Valenzuela, aka The Chinaman; and the suspected driver of the motorcycle, Eddy Vladimir
Feliz Garcia, aka The Package.
The four suspects still at large were identified as Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, aka The Surgeon, as well as a woman known as The Venezuelan, or Red, and two other men, prosecutors said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Boston, Ortiz’s wife said in statement that the former Red Sox slugger 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.