Redwood City, California (The Weekly Vice) -- Alfredo Guadalupe Ortiz, a 28 year old 2-time convicted felon recently convicted for battering his girlfriend is now on the loose after a clerical error set him free.
Ortiz was convicted in a San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday for battering his girlfriend and another man in San Mateo back in July, 2007. Prior to his convicted, he had enjoyed freedom while out on a $25,000 bail during the trial.
When he was found guilty at Friday's trial, court deputies took him into custody and transported Ortiz to the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City California. He was ordered to appear back in court for sentencing on Monday. County deputies were ordered to bring the jailed man back to court for sentencing, however there was one tiny little problem. The County Jail didn't have Ortiz.
It turns out that when Ortiz was convicted, court clerks somehow forgot to update Ortiz' $25,000 bail to "No Bail" on Ortiz' case file. This allowed his family to come and post bail for Ortiz again and Ortiz again walked out of jail as a free man.
Monday's hearing came and went, and to no one's big surprise, Ortiz didn't show up. He was facing nine years in prison after all. The problem is, that the issue apparently never came to light until Ortiz was found absent at his sentencing hearing.
Ortiz, who was previously convicted for assault with a gun and now has been convicted for beating down two people is running loose and San Mateo County officials can't find him.
Authorities in the case say Ortiz' family and friends have been "unhelpful". Big surprise, huh?
If caught, Ortiz will face new felony charges for failing to appear in court on Monday, however thus far, there has very little media coverage of Ortiz' case - outside of San Mateo County.
The victims who Ortiz beat down have been notified of his release. (we should hope so).
As a side note, San Mateo County officials have acknowledged their blunder and realize the seriousness of the problem.
"We're trying to determine what happened so we can make sure it doesn't happen again," said Lt. Ray Lunny.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
So readers, it may be up to you and me at this point to keep an eye out for Ortiz. San Mateo County Sheriff's Office believes he's still in the area, but in all honestly - would you hang around San Mateo County if you were facing 9 year in jail and had just skipped a felony charge sentencing hearing? I think it's safe to say, we better broaden that search just a little bit.
If you have any information on Alfredo Ortiz' whereabouts, please call 800-547-2700.
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://www.theweeklyvice.com
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