Thread: FL: MExican illegal attempts to kidnap woman hiking on trail

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Palm Beach Post Staff Reports

Sunday, February 03, 2008

A man arrested in Halpatiokee Regional Park south of Palm City last week on charges of attempted robbery and kidnapping is not a juvenile, as authorities first thought. Byron Ortiz-Medina, a Mexican citizen, is 20, according to an arrest affidavit. On Monday, according to sheriff's reports, Ortiz-Medina grabbed a woman on a walking trail at the park and showed her a knife, saying, "Come with me." The woman said she hit him in the chest with her walking stick and he let her go. Deputies later found him in the park with the knife. No one was hurt. Authorities said Ortiz-Medina told them he planned to rob her and that his name was Felipe Gonzalez, age 17. He was taken to the juvenile detention center in Fort Pierce and later to the Martin County jail after federal border patrol agents identified him, the arrest affidavit said. Ortiz-Medina remained in jail late Saturday on $200,000 bail.

Obviously he had a prior arrest that enabled the law to correctly ID him, via fingerprints, otherwise he would probably be out on bail by now. Oh yeah, and when he failed to show up for his court date (par for the course) an arrest warrant would have been issued for someone who doesn't even exist.