Marine vet fighting for his life, paralyzed after being shot by illegal migrant who had been arrested and released 4 times
A Marine Corps veteran from Texas is fighting for his life after a serial recidivist illegal migrant allegedly shot him while he was working as a security guard.
And his outraged family says the Democratic District Attorney in San Antonio is soft-peddling the charges after letting his attacker walk free following four prior arrests.
Jimmy Friesenhahn, 44, who survived multiple overseas deployments including to Iraq during his 14 years in the Marines, is now paralyzed and can no longer speak.
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5 Friesenhahn's outraged family says the Democratic District Attorney in San Antonio is soft-peddling the charges after letting his attacker walk free.
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He was working at the El Patio Sports Bar, when he spotted a man apparently carrying a handgun in his pocket and tried to confiscate it, his brother-in-law Emmanuel Martinez told The Post.
The customer, identified by cops as Wilmer Vladmir Ortega Ruiz, 29, refused to give up the pistol and they fought over it.
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Friesenhahn was shot three times, twice in the bulletproof vest and once through the neck.
Friesenhahn, who is the father of a five-month-old baby girl, was left with a complete spinal injury, along with a ruptured esophagus and vocal cords.
5 The customer, identified by cops as Wilmer Vladmir Ortega Ruiz, 29, refused to give up the pistol.
Bexar County Jail
He has undergone six surgeries and is still clinging to life, but the prognosis has worsened, Martinez said.
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'Jimmy's sacrifice saved people because there's stories that the guy was going to go inside and do something in that place,' Martinez said in an emotional interview.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Ortega Ruiz on May 4. But this wasn't his first rodeo.
5 Friesenhahn was shot three times, twice in the bulletproof vest and once through the neck.
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Ortego Ruiz was first arrested in San Antonio and charged with a DWI in October 2020, according to court records. He was let go on a personal recognizance bond, but failed to show in court.
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The Bexar County District Attorney's office then downgraded the DWI charge to obstructing a passageway.
Ortega Ruiz pleaded guilty to that charge, but violated the terms of his probation and was arrested for a second time in August 2023.
He was let go again after posting a $1,500 bond amount and failed to show up in court for a later hearing.
5 He has undergone six surgeries and is still clinging to life, but the prognosis has worsened.
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The illegal migrant got collared a third time in September 2023 and bonded out for $1,500, again failing to show in court at a later hearing.
He was then arrested for a fourth time in November 2024 and sentenced to time served nearly three weeks later.
Ortega Ruiz was also allegedly the center of an assault investigation in which his girlfriend reported he physically attacked her, but he had fled the scene before cops arrived, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Law enforcement sources said he sneaked into the country as a 'got away.'
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5 Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Ortega Ruiz on May 4.
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Meanwhile, the Bexar County District Attorney's office has only pursued aggravated assault charges against Ortego Ruiz and set his bond amount at $200,000 in his latest alleged offense.
And the victim's family is outraged, calling the repeated lax prosecution 'a huge slap in the face.'
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'That's attempted murder, that's not aggravated assault,' said Friesenhahn's tearful sister, Evangelina Borjon.
'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,' said Martinez.
The DA's office did not respond to a request for comment.
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