On a Monday afternoon in the Bronx, 39-year-old Gloria Ortiz, a woman involved in the local tow truck industry, was killed in a brazen drive-by shooting. The attack happened around 4:10 p.m. on February 7, 2022, on East 137th Street in the Mott Haven neighborhood. Surveillance footage showed a white BMW driving by as a person inside opened fire on a group of people on the sidewalk. Ortiz was struck in the head and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Two men with her, aged 32 and 23, were also shot in the back but survived their injuries. Police believed from the start that the violence was connected to a dispute between rival tow truck businesses.
The investigation led to an arrest within months. In May 2022, the New York Police Department arrested 27-year-old Jason Rivera, charging him with murder, attempted murder, and assault for his alleged role in the shooting. However, investigators continued to dig deeper into the motive, uncovering a violent criminal enterprise operating under the guise of an auto repair shop.
A major development came in October 2024 with the federal arrest of Christian Lugo, 37, also known as "Coco." Prosecutors identified Lugo as the leader of Certified Auto, a tow truck and auto repair company that allegedly used fraud, violence, and intimidation to dominate the industry in its section of the Bronx. An indictment alleged that the shooting was a targeted attack ordered by Lugo to eliminate competition. Authorities said Lugo instructed a co-conspirator to shoot at members of a rival company, which resulted in the death of Gloria Ortiz. According to prosecutors, Lugo had asked the gunman, “Are you going to take care of it or am I?”
Lugo was charged with racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering. After the killing, he had fled to Florida before his eventual arrest. He later pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and a firearm possession charge. During an emotional sentencing hearing, Ortiz’s son, Jacob Brito, told the court that his mother’s murder had left him and his younger siblings orphaned. He shared that his mother had taken over the family business after her husband was killed in a separate towing-related dispute and that she had been trying to legitimize its operations. Lugo told the court that Ortiz had been the godmother to one of his own children.
In February 2026, a federal judge sentenced Christian Lugo to 19 years in prison for his crimes. The judge called the shooting "the most terrible act" he had seen during his time on the bench. The case against the man who prosecutors said ordered the fatal shooting was closed as of his sentencing.
