Immigration agent in shooting drove 'rammed' SUV to Maine

The immigration agent who shot a woman earlier this month after she allegedly rammed his vehicle in Brighton Park was allowed by his supervisors to drive the government-issued SUV back to Maine before it could be inspected by the woman’s attorneys.

That peculiar twist was revealed in a routine hearing Thursday in the assault case against Marimar Martinez, who is accused of intentionally ramming the agent’s Chevrolet Tahoe during an immigration-enforcement mission on Chicago’s Southwest Side, leading him to open fire.

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During the hearing, Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, asked U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis for an order preserving evidence in the investigation, including body-camera footage, emails between Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney’s office about any media statements about the case, and the vehicles involved in the incident.

Parente said he was particularly worried about the Border Patrol agent’s vehicle, since where and how it sustained any damage would be pivotal evidence in the case. Parente said after he demanded to inspect the vehicle, he was notified the agent was allowed to “drive it back to Maine, which I believe is 1,100 miles away.”

“I assumed this car was being kept as evidence,” Parente said, adding the agent should be instructed immediately to not get the vehicle repaired or washed. “I shouldn’t have to find that out … how they let this happen is beyond me.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Bond said that while photos of the vehicle were taken after the incident, the agent was “granted permission by his supervisors to travel back to Maine,” and that the car remained there as of Thursday.

Alexakis said the defense request to inspect it was “a reasonable one” and ordered it to be hauled back to Chicago immediately on a flatbed trailer.

“I think you need to get the car back. I don’t think it’s an ‘if need be,'” Alexakis said.

Parente said he’d likely be filing a motion for sanctions over the issue.

“I want to see if this was an intentional act, judge,” he said. “There are all sorts of things in this case that I have never seen before.”

Martinez, 30, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of using a dangerous weapon to interfere with federal officers in the course of their official duties. Also charged with the same count was Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21, who prosecutors say used his SUV to ram the same Border Patrol vehicle. Ruiz also has entered a not guilty plea.

Prosecutors have said both Martinez and Ruiz were part of a convoy of cars that had been following agents on Oct. 4 as they conducted immigration enforcement operations in the Brighton Park neighborhood, and that before the crash and shooting near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, Martinez had been broadcasting the pursuit on Facebook Live, “laying on her horn” and “yelling loudly” at the agents.

After both Martinez and Ruiz struck the officers’ vehicle, one agent jumped out and opened fire, hitting Martinez five times. Martinez drove off after the shooting but paramedics discovered her and her vehicle at a repair shop about a mile away, according to a criminal complaint. She was later taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where she was released after being treated for gunshot wounds.

Ruiz also drove away after the collisions, but law enforcement located him and his vehicle at a gas station about a half block away, the complaint stated.

All three agents were equipped with body cameras, but the camera of only one of the passengers was switched on at the time of the incident, according to the complaint.

The body camera footage has not been released publicly. But Parente said in court he’d viewed it multiple times and that it showed that just before the shooting, one of the agents was captured saying, “Do something, bitch,” while his hands were on his assault rifle.

Prosecutors have alleged in court that the actions of both Martinez and Ruiz were “extremely dangerous and extremely reckless,” putting both the officers and potentially innocent bystanders in harm’s way.

The Department of Homeland Security has also repeatedly made statements in the media touting that Martinez, a concealed-carry license holder, had a handgun in her purse at the time of the incident, although she was never accused of brandishing it and was not charged with any weapons offense.

Parente said Thursday he wanted DHS communications about the incident preserved and demanded a trial as soon as Dec. 1.

“They publicly branded this woman as a domestic terrorist and we are trying to clear her name as soon as possible,” Parente told the judge.

Both sides were scheduled to come back to court Monday to talk about a trial date.

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