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Yakima, WA – The U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest
Violent Offender Task Force (PNVOTF) arrested 36 year old Justin Ortega
who was wanted by the Yakima Police Department on four counts of Rape of
a Child First Degree, two counts of Child Molestation, and one count of
Assault of a Child in the 3rd Degree.
On October 10, 2019 Ortega
is alleged by law enforcement to have brutally assaulted and raped two
young girls. The case was immediately adopted by the Pacific Northwest
Violent Offender Task Force (PNVOTF) through the Yakima Police
Department, who established a full-time Task Force Officer on the PNVOTF
following the highly successful Operation Invictus this past summer. On
October 26, 2019, Ortega was highlighted on an episode of Washington’s
Most Wanted and shortly thereafter, the tips started pouring in.
On October 29, 2019, the PNVOTF Yakima received actionable
information from Washington’s Most Wanted viewers that Ortega was
traveling back and forth between Bellingham and Blaine Washington. A
lead was forwarded to our PNVOTF Snohomish team, who deployed
surveillance and arrest teams into Blaine. At approximately 1800 hours
this evening, the PNVOTF surrounded a residence in Blaine, Washington
with assistance from the Blaine Police Department and began calling
Ortega out. Ultimately the PNVOTF forced entry, and arrested Ortega.
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Raymond Fleck, Yakima, attributed
the successful capture of Ortega to the public and private sector
partnerships reinforced over this summer during Operation Invictus
Civitas, Undefeatable Community, “I am incredibly proud of the work our
men and women did over the past three weeks to pursue and capture
Ortega, and the willingness of citizen’s across Washington to provide
critical information that led to his capture. Their efforts, along with
the faith the Yakima Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office
and Washington State Department of Corrections has placed in the PNVOTF
by detailing full-time detectives and officers as force-multipliers,
ensures that violent offenders like Ortega will be brought to justice.”
Chief Matthew Murray of the Yakima Police Department stated,
“One of the most critical components to reducing violent crime is
arresting violent fugitives. The Yakima Police Department is a proud
partner of the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Offender Task Force. This arrest
highlights the need to continue our collaborative efforts.”
The
PNVOTF is a U.S. Marshals Service sponsored partnership composed of
federal, state and local law enforcement officers from Washington,
Oregon and Alaska including the United States Marshals Service in
Washington, Oregon and Alaska, United States Attorney’s Office, Yakima
Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State
Department of Corrections, Arlington Police Department, Benton County
Sheriff’s Office, Kennewick Police Department, Snohomish County
Sheriff’s Office, King County Sheriff’s Department, Seattle Police
Department, and Yakima County Prosecutors Office. The primary mission of
the PNVOTF is to locate, arrest, and return to the justice system the
most violent, most egregious federal and state fugitives.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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First Federal Law Enforcement Agency
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