Posted on 01/19/2008 10:07:35 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Ortiz Sanchez pays fines on 10 warrants
HARLINGEN — A woman who racked up almost 100 warrants for traffic violations during the past 10 years faces arrest again, officials said Friday.
Three Cameron County warrant officers were planning to arrest Valerie Ortiz Sanchez, 31, on outstanding warrants in Harlingen, San Benito, La Feria and Brownsville, Jacob Borgas, a warrant officer, said. “Justice has to be served,” Borgas said. “She’s got to live up to her responsibilities.”
Thursday night, San Benito officials released Ortiz Sanchez after she paid $2,718 in fines on 10 outstanding warrants for traffic violations, Orlando Garcia, the city’s director of public safety, said.
Justice of the Peace Julian Sanchez in San Benito said Ortiz Sanchez has six warrants in his court, with fines of $1,463. Sanchez said the warrants stem from speeding tickets, driving without insurance, no inspection sticker, expired vehicle registration, expired driver’s license and failing to appear in court.
Ortiz Sanchez owes $1,151 in fines on five warrants in Justice of the Peace Sallie Gonzalez’s court in Harlingen, according to the judge’s office.
Gonzalez said Ortiz Sanchez’s warrants date from 2002 and include two warrants for failing to use a seatbelt for child passenger, disregarding a no-passing zone and speeding, as well as failing to appear in court.
In Brownsville, Justice of the Peace Linda Salazar’s court has one warrant on Ortiz Sanchez, the judge’s traffic clerk said. The warrant is on charges of speeding, unrestrained child and failure to appear in court stemming from an April 1, 2007, traffic stop, clerk Sylvia Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said the fines and court fees total $530.
Ortiz Sanchez was released from the San Benito jail after her arrest and release from the jail in Harlingen, where she owes about $15,000 on outstanding warrants, Garcia said.
Harlingen police said Ortiz Sanchez had 76 warrants dating to 1998 at the time of her arrest on traffic violations Monday. However, some of those warrants were dismissed during her arraignment in Harlingen Municipal Court on Tuesday.
“She’s already clear with us,” Garcia said Friday. “Everything she owed San Benito she paid last night.”
Garcia said he didn’t know how Ortiz Sanchez came up with the money.
But Ortiz Sanchez won’t be free for long, San Benito Justice of the Peace David Garza said.
“She’s headed back,” Garza said, referring to jail. “They’re going to go pick her up. She owes some big bucks.”
Ortiz Sanchez owes about $3,000 in four Cameron County courts, Garza said.
“¡Qué bárbara!” Garza said of the 10-year accumulation of traffic tickets and warrants. “I’ve never, ever seen anything like this.”
In Harlingen, city Finance Director Roel Gutierrez said his office has received phone calls from Brownsville and Los Fresnos, where staff said Ortiz Sanchez was wanted for outstanding traffic violations.
Last October, county commissioners voted to hire three warrant officers to round up violators.
“Justice will eventually catch up to you,” Borgas said. “You can run for a while, but you can’t run from the law too long.”
Valle ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
And yet she’s still out there on the road...
I suppose they like the gravy train, regardless of the danger to others.
Is this dumb woman a citizen are not? Stop letting her drive.
OK, one sec: don’t they run your license, etc., every time you’re pulled over? Or does she simply lack one, making it impossible to run it (and registration and...)
Sounds like she is the Jane Doe of traffic warrant fame - seriously, I think this woman has made some big bucks off of name-renting and that is where she is going to get the money to pay these accumulated fines.
Will the real Ortiz Sanchez please, STAND UP!
That was the first thing that came to my mind too. Some genious in government needs to check her employment history. I'd be willing to bet big bucks that a bunch of illegals are using her name.
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