Jose Ortiz Hernandez, the Gilroy Dispatch’s Most Wanted
fugitive, was captured during a traffic stop in New Jersey.
Hernandez has been wanted by police for alleged sex crimes for 412
days.
Jose Ortiz Hernandez, the Gilroy Dispatch’s Most Wanted fugitive, was captured during a traffic stop in New Jersey, police said. Hernandez has been wanted by police for alleged sex crimes for 412 days.
Police in Raritan, N.J. pulled the 46-year-old over after he ran a stop sign, according to police. Hernandez provided police with his California driver’s license, which showed that he was wanted in Gilroy on warrants for distributing harmful matter with intent to seduce a minor, lewd acts with a person 14 to 15 years old, and annoying or molesting a child younger than 18.
Police then took Hernandez without incident to a county jail, where his identity was confirmed by photograph, police said. Hernandez has agreed to be extradited to California and is awaiting transport from the U.S. Marshals Service.
On Jan. 11, 2007, a 14-year-old female family member of Hernandez told police he had given her explicit material, inappropriately touched a 14-year-old friend of the family member during a sleepover and exposed himself to both girls, police said. Hernandez fled before police arrived at the scene and had not been seen previous to his June 1 arrest.
On April 4, 2007, a Santa Clara County judge issued a $100,000 warrant for his arrest. In December, the Dispatch added Hernandez as the no. 1 Most Wanted fugitive, where he has remained. See the
