A Texas Marine Corps veteran is battling for his life after he was allegedly shot by an illegal immigrant who is a serial recidivist while he was employed as a security guard.
The Democratic District Attorney in San Antonio, according to his incensed family, is soft-peddling the charges after allowing his attacker to escape punishment after four previous arrests.
Jimmy Friesenhahn, 44, is crippled and mute after surviving several deployments abroad, including one to Iraq, during his 14 years in the Marines.
His brother-in-law, Emmanuel Martinez, told that he was working at the El Patio Sports Bar when he noticed a man who appeared to be carrying a weapon in his pocket and attempted to seize it.
They struggled over the pistol because the customer, who police identified as 29-year-old Wilmer Vladmir Ortega Ruiz, would not give it up.
Friesenhahn was shot three times, once through the neck and twice in the bulletproof vest. The father of a five-month-old girl, Friesenhahn, had a burst esophagus, vocal chords, and a total spinal injury.
Martinez stated that although he is still alive and has had six surgeries, the outlook has gotten worse.
In an emotional interview, Martinez stated, “Jimmy’s sacrifice saved people because there were stories that the guy was going to go inside and do something in that place.”
On May 4, Ortega Ruiz was placed under detainer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, this was nothing new to him.
According to court documents, Ortego Ruiz was initially taken into custody in San Antonio and charged with DWI in October 2020. Despite being released on a personal recognizance bond, he did not appear in court.
The DWI allegation was then reduced to impeding a passageway by the Bexar County District Attorney’s office.
Although Ortega Ruiz entered a guilty plea to that case, he broke the conditions of his probation and was arrested again in August 2023.
After posting a $1,500 bond and failing to appear in court for a subsequent hearing, he was released once more.
In September 2023, the undocumented immigrant was arrested a third time and released on bond for $1,500; however, at a subsequent hearing, he once more failed to appear in court.
After his fourth arrest in November 2024, he was given a sentence of time served over three weeks later.
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According to law enforcement sources, Ortega Ruiz was also the subject of an assault inquiry after his girlfriend claimed he had physically assaulted her. However, he had left the scene before the police arrived.
According to law enforcement officials, he entered the nation covertly as a “getaway.”
In the meantime, Ortego Ruiz’s most recent claimed violation has resulted in a $200,000 bond amount and just aggravated assault charges from the Bexar County District Attorney’s office.
The victim’s family is furious and has described the persistently lenient prosecution as “a huge slap in the face.”
“That’s attempted murder, that’s not aggravated assault,” said Evangelina Borjon, Friesenhahn’s distraught sister.
“It’s ridiculous the way the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, the DA, the Bexar County judges, the whole justice system here is not caring and letting this guy off time after time,” Martinez stated.
