A Boston Globe story contradicts the Attorney General Office and National Police version that the shooting of former Boston Red Sox ball player David Ortiz in 2019 in eastern Santo Domingo was a case of mistaken identity. The story cites conclusions of a private investigation that attributes the shooting to actions taken by Dominican drug kingpin Cesar Emilio Peralta (El Abusador). The shooting occurred at the Dial Bar and Lounge in eastern Santo Domingo on 9 June 2019.
After recovering from the shooting, legendary Boston Red Sox slugger hired former Boston Police commissioner Ed Davis and CIA agent Ric Prado to carry out a thorough investigation. As reported in the Boston Globe, as part of his investigation, Davis commissioned a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that conducted forensic video analysis to study the surveillance footage from the bar. The investigation concluded that the gunman was trying to shoot both David Ortiz and Sixto Fernandez, who accompanied him at the time.
The Boston Globe report indicates that the private investigation determined Ortiz was targeted by a powerful and politically-connected drug lord — César Emilio “The Abuser” Peralta — who felt disrespected by Ortiz.
Davis disputed the version of the Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez and the chief of the Police Ney Aldrin Bautista at the time and said this was not a case of mistaken identity as these had concluded. Davis told the Boston Globe that Peralta said he had Ortiz shot. Davis was citing information that he said US law enforcement officials gathered and shared with him.
As reported in the Boston Globe, the Davis investigations revealed that Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez would have called Ortiz to ask him to go along with the conclusion of the mistaken identity because if Peralta fell, many officials in the government of former President Danilo Medina would fall.
Davis says evidence indicated the gunman aimed clearly at Ortiz. The Globe reported that Davis alleges that Peralta’s motive for the Ortiz shooting likely was a buildup of perceived slights and jealousies. Davis found no evidence that Ortiz engaged in business with Peralta. Ortiz and Peralta had apartments in the same luxury high-rise building in Santo Domingo.
Peralta is in jail without bail in Puerto Rico on unrelated conspiracy charges to import cocaine and heroin. The US Treasury designated Peralta a drug kingpin in 2019 and he was extradited to the US territory from Colombia.
Referring to the Boston Globe story, the Miami-based lawyer of Cesar Peralta, Joaquin Perez says that it is slander to accuse his client of having ordered the assassination attempt against David Ortiz. Perez described Ortiz and Peralta as “close friends” and said Peralta was in the crowd that flocked to the clinic where Ortiz was rushed, clinging to life, the night of the shooting.
“He could have made many mistakes, but I doubt that he was involved in the assassination attempt on his friend David Ortiz,” Perez stated. The lawyer says that the investigation not only holds his client responsible for the attempted murder, but also accuses the Dominican government of corruption.
Carlos Balcacer, defense lawyer for former Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez, says the revelations in the Boston Globe story add nothing. He said Rodriguez had acted on information he had received from his investigators.
As reported in the Boston Globe, Peralta was a fugitive from the US charges when Ortiz was shot. Yet he was thriving in plain sight in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, where he owned many high-end nightclubs and restaurants and a money exchange. US authorities allege he used the businesses to launder drug money.
The FBI stated in a 2018 affidavit that Peralta’s international trafficking network generated millions of dollars, some of which he used to bribe Dominican national police and government officials to avoid arrest, prosecution, and narcotics seizures.
In designating Peralta a drug kingpin in 2019, the US Treasury said he and his criminal organization have used violence and corruption in the Dominican Republic to traffic tons of cocaine and opioids into the United States and Europe.
As reported in the Boston Globe, Ortiz’s communications adviser, Joe Baerlein, said his client later asked the Globe to add to his comments that “while David appreciates the thoroughness of [Davis’s] report, he awaits further legal action in the Dominican and US courts to bring final clarity and answers on why this happened to him.”
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21 March 2022