Prosecutors say a Border Patrol mechanic in Maine attempted to “wipe off” some scuff marks but did no actual repairs on an immigration agent’s SUV after he shot a woman in Brighton Park last month.
A court filing by the U.S. attorney’s office late Monday provided a more detailed timeline of what happened to the agent’s Chevrolet Tahoe after the Oct. 4 shooting that left Marimar Martinez wounded.
Martinez was charged with assault for allegedly intentionally ramming her car into the agent’s vehicle, leading him to open fire. Martinez’s attorneys have alleged that before they could inspect the agent’s vehicle, he was improperly allowed by a supervisor to drive it more than a thousand miles back to his home base in Maine.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis ordered the Tahoe brought back to Chicago on a flatbed truck and asked prosecutors for information on whether it had been repaired after the shooting.
According to the government’s filing, the Tahoe remained at the scene of the shooting for several hours as an FBI technician took photographs of the vehicle’s exterior. An FBI special agent then drove the Tahoe to the agency’s Chicago headquarters for processing, where the evidence technician inspected it, took additional photographs “and collected paint samples from the damaged areas,” the filing stated. The contents of the vehicle’s onboard computer were also downloaded and preserved.
After the processing was completed later that night, the agent was authorized to remove the vehicle from the FBI offices, according to the filing. Three days later, the agent drove it to the U.S. attorney’s office at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to participate in an interview with prosecutors.
Following the interview, his monthlong deployment to Chicago ended and he “began the two-and-a-half-day drive back to his station in Maine” in the Tahoe, according to the filing. The agent told prosecutors he did not “wash, repair, or alter” the vehicle before arriving at his station in Maine on October 10.
The agent’s ranking supervisor then authorized the vehicle’s repair, “understanding that the vehicle had been fully processed by the FBI and that, therefore, there was no further need to preserve the vehicle’s condition as evidence,” the filing stated.
On Oct. 14, a Border Patrol mechanic “began to work on the car to put it back into service,” using a brake cleaner on a shop rag to attempt to “wipe the scuff marks,” but used only light pressure and “did not repair any of scratches or dents on the vehicle,” the filing stated.
After receiving word from Chicago about the dispute over the car’s whereabouts, the supervisor at the Maine station ordered that the Tahoe not be serviced any further, the filing stated.
On Oct. 23, the vehicle was picked up and transported by flatbed truck to Chicago, where it was inspected by Martinez’s attorneys at the FBI’s Chicago Office.
Marimar 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. A trial has been set for Feb. 2.
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. Prior to 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 and 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 involved 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. However, prosecutor Parente said in court that he had viewed the footage multiple times and that it showed, just before the shooting, one of the agents 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.
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/04/border-patrol-vehicle-buffed-maine/
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