Federal Complaint Charges Two Individuals with Using Their Vehicles to Assault, Impede, and Interfere with the Work of Federal Agents in Chicago

CHICAGO - Two individuals have been charged in federal court with using their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago.

According to a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago, MARIMAR MARTINEZ and ANTHONY IAN SANTOS RUIZ used their vehicles to strike a vehicle being driven by an agent of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Saturday morning near the intersection of West 39th Street and South Kedzie Avenue on Chicago's Southwest Side. Two other CBP agents were also in the government vehicle. After striking the agents' vehicle, the defendants' vehicles boxed in the agents' vehicle, the complaint states. The agent was unable to move his vehicle and exited the car, at which point he fired approximately five shots from his service weapon at Martinez, the complaint states.

Martinez drove off but paramedics discovered her and her vehicle at a repair shop about a mile away. Martinez was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she received treatment for gunshot wounds, the complaint states.

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 states. Both defendants remain in law enforcement custody, pending initial appearances in federal court in Chicago.

The complaint charges Martinez, 30, and Ruiz, 21, both of Chicago, with forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer.

The federal charges were announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.