Ex-slugger David Ortiz had counted on fans to protect him

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Beloved in his hometown, David Ortiz traveled the dangerous streets of Santo Domingo with little or no security, trusting in his fans to protect him.

Big Papi’s guard was down even at hotspots like the Dial Bar and Lounge, where the Dominican business and entertainment elite can cross paths with shadier figures in a country where fortunes are often made in drug smuggling and money laundering.

As the former Red Sox slugger lies in intensive care in Boston, recovering from the bullet fired into his back at the Dial on Sunday night, police are investigating what aspect of the national hero’s life made him the target of what appeared to be an assassination attempt.

Ortiz was so relaxed at the open-air hotspot Sunday that he had his back to the sidewalk as a gunman — a passenger on a motorcycle — got off the bike just before 9 p.m., approached the 43-year-old retired athlete and fired a single shot at close range before escaping.

Enraged fans captured the 25-year-old motorcyclist and beat him bloody before handing him over to police, but the gunman was still at large Tuesday. Dominican authorities reported a second arrest in the case Tuesday night, but there was no public indication the man was suspected of being the shooter.

Doctors in Santo Domingo removed Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of his intestines, and the former ballplayer was then flown to Boston for further treatment Monday night, undergoing two hours of exploratory surgery.

Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany, said in a statement that he was “stable, awake and resting comfortably” at Massachusetts General Hospital and was expected to remain there for several days.

The motorcyclist, Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia, who had a 2017 arrest for drug possession, was one of several people in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, a law-enforcement official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release details of the investigation.

A police car carrying Feliz Garcia drove up to a shipping container serving as a makeshift courtroom on Tuesday evening, and sat there for about a half-hour before driving off again. Court officials said the hearing had been delayed because Feliz Garcia’s charging documents had not arrived in time. He was brought back about 10 p.m. for charging.

A spokesman for prosecutors, Erick Montilla, said Feliz Garcia was charged as an accomplice to an attempted murder.

His lawyer, Deivi Solano, said Feliz Garcia had no idea who he’d picked up and what was about to happen when he stopped to take a fare.

“He didn’t know what they were going to do. He’s a fan of David’s,” Solano said.