A Marine Corps veteran from Texas is in critical condition after being shot while working as a security guard by an illegal migrant with a history of shooting.
His outraged family claims the Democratic District Attorney in San Antonio is soft-pedaling the charges after allowing his attacker to go free after four previous arrests.
Jimmy Friesenhahn, 44, who served in the Marine Corps for 14 years and survived multiple overseas deployments, including one to Iraq, is now paralyzed and unable to speak.
While working at El Patio Sports Bar, the employee attempted to confiscate a man’s handgun from his pocket, according to his brother-in-law Emmanuel Martinez.
The customer, identified by cops as Wilmer Vladmir Ortega Ruiz, 29, refused to surrender the pistol, and they fought over it.
Friesenhahn was shot three times: twice in the bulletproof vest and once through the neck.
Friesenhahn, the father of a five-month-old girl, suffered a complete spinal injury, as well as a ruptured esophagus and vocal cords.
He has had six surgeries and is still fighting for his life, but his condition has deteriorated, according to Martinez.
“Jimmy’s sacrifice saved people because there were rumors that he was going to go inside and do something in that location,” Martinez said in an emotional interview.
On May 4, Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Ortega Ruiz. But it wasn’t his first rodeo.
Ortego Ruiz was arrested in San Antonio and charged with DWI in October 2020, according to court records. He was released on a personal recognizance bond, but failed to appear in court.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office then reduced the DWI charge to obstructing a passageway.
Ortega Ruiz pleaded guilty to the charge, but violated his probation and was arrested again in August 2023.
He was released again after posting a $1,500 bond but failed to appear in court for a subsequent hearing.
In September 2023, the illegal migrant was arrested for the third time and bonded out for $1,500. However, they did not appear in court for a subsequent hearing.
He was arrested for the fourth time in November 2024 and sentenced to time served nearly three weeks later.
According to law enforcement sources, Ortega Ruiz was the subject of an assault investigation after his girlfriend reported that he physically attacked her. However, he fled the scene before police arrived.
According to law enforcement, he sneaked into the country as a “got away.”
Meanwhile, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has only filed aggravated assault charges against Ortego Ruiz and set his bond at $200,000 for his most recent alleged offense.
The victim’s family is furious, calling the repeated lax prosecution “a huge slap in the face.”
“That’s attempted murder, not aggravated assault,” said Friesenhahn’s weeping 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,” Martinez told me.
The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
