David Ortiz hired private investigators to figure out who was behind the shooting attack that nearly killed him in 2019. According to private investigators, a Dominican drug trafficker felt disrespected by the Red Sox player and plotted his revenge by attempting to kill him at a Dominican nightclub.
Former Boston police commissioner, Edward Davis, identified the drug kingpin as César Peralta. Though Peralta is behind bars for something unrelated, the hit at the nightclub was allegedly meant for someone sharing a table with Ortiz that night.
NBC News reports, “Dominican authorities have said the target was meant to be Sixto David Fernandez, who was sharing a table with Ortiz when he was shot. Authorities said the hitmen confused Fernandez with Ortiz, one of the most popular Dominican ballplayers ever.”
Peralta is currently being held without bail in Puerto Rico on conspiracy charges to import heroin and cocaine. The U.S. Treasury actually named him a drug kingpin in 2019.
His lawyer, Joaquin Perez, claims he had nothing to do with the attempt to take Ortiz’s life. “As bad as César Peralta is, it’s not even close to being in the ballpark to say he had something to do with this,” Perez says.
So far, thirteen people who have been charged with Ortiz’s shooting are awaiting trial in the Dominican Republic.
Ortiz was wounded tremendously in the shooting and underwent surgery in the U.S. after doctor officials removed his gallbladder and part of his intestine in the Dominican Republic.
