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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnB2012's Avatar
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    Man Accused Of Road Rage Now Charged With May Shooting

    http://www.wral.com/news/9592014/detail.html

    RALEIGH, N.C. -- A man accused last week of firing a gun at several drivers in Raleigh is now charged with a road rage shooting on the Beltline in May.

    Authorities arrested Joel Ortiz in connection with a series of road rage incidents last week. Officials said he is an illegal immigrant.

    Ortiz has now also been charged in a May 19 shooting on the Beltline. Police said a man was driving when his vehicle hit the guardrail near New Bern Avenue and plunged into a ravine. When police arrived on the scene, officers noticed the man had been shot.

    The victim will be OK. He had told police someone fired at him from another car. Ortiz is in jail on more than $400,000 bond.

  2. #2
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    http://www.wral.com/news/9568433/detail.html

    Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Road Rage Could Face Deportation

    POSTED: 7:59 pm EDT July 24, 2006
    UPDATED: 8:54 pm EDT July 24, 2006



    RALEIGH, N.C. -- Some say an overwhelming caseload was a factor in why an illegal immigrant charged in what investigators have called a violent case of road rage was not deported after a prior conviction for a McDonald's shooting.

    Joel Ortiz was arrested in April in connection with the shooting at the Raleigh restaurant and was under investigation by local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    But when there was not enough evidence to support a felony conviction, according to prosecutors, a plea bargain was reached with Ortiz and the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.

    Although a misdemeanor-assault charge is a deportable offense, according to immigration attorney Lynn Calder, immigration officials said that because the charge was reduced, the case became a low priority.


    "If they got something more serious going on at the time, I don't think they'll get to them," Calder said.

    That procedure, referred to as a detainer, is now under way for Ortiz after he was arrested last Thursday in a series of incidents in which he allegedly chased down motorists, rammed their vehicles and shot at them. He is currently in jail under $407,000 bond.

    But Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said on Monday that he had hoped immigration agents would have taken a serious look at Ortiz's immigration status after the first arrest in April.

    "Anytime someone is in this country illegally and gets arrested for a felony with a firearm, it ought to get reviewed by ICE," Willoughby said.

    Willoughby, the police, as well as many other people, have said they realize and understand how overwhelmed immigration agents are. For example, the local immigration office covers 31 counties.

    The enormous amount of work, in part, has prompted state lawmakers to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration. On Monday evening, they unanimously passed a resolution to pushing for an immigration court in North Carolina, which is one of three states under consideration for the court.

    North Carolina's illegal-immigrant population is estimated at about 300,000 and is the eighth largest in the United States. Currently, the closest immigration court is in Atlanta.

    The resolution also urges the U.S. Congress to make a driving-while-impaired conviction a cause for deportation, and it calls for the expansion of Homeland Security to give local law-enforcement officers the authority to identify people who have previously been deported.

    An Elon University poll released in April shows that 71 percent of North Carolinians believe illegal immigration is an important issue, but those who responded are split as to whether it has helped the state.

    Of the 677 participants, 44 percent said illegal immigration has been bad for North Carolina, while 43 percent said it has been good or has not made much difference.

    Participants were asked their opinions about a variety of statements to determine what makes immigration an important issue to them. More than 70 percent agreed that providing school, health care and similar services for illegal immigrants costs too much and 72 percent said such immigrants do not pay their fair share of taxes.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
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    Man Charged After Series Of Armed Road Rage Incidents

    POSTED: 12:09 pm EDT July 21, 2006
    UPDATED: 11:27 pm EDT July 21, 2006

    RALEIGH, N.C. -- In a violent case of road rage, a man chased down drivers, hit their cars, and in one case, shot at people and robbed them, police said.

    The man who police said was behind the incidents appeared in court Friday. Investigators also released 911 tapes from moments before one accident.

    The series of events unfolded quickly early Thursday evening. In a matter of 24 minutes, three cars were damaged.

    In the first incident, a young couple said they were hit by a car on Wake Forest Road, then shot at by the driver.

    "I literally close my eyes and I can see him with a gun shooting at me," said one of the alleged victims. "I didn't sleep last night. It's probably been the most horrifying experience of my life."

    The couple used the tires of their truck as a shield. Police said Joel Ortiz kept attacking at them, eventually robbing them.

    The couple said their attacker told them to drive away. When they did, he allegedly followed them on the Beltline before getting off on Six Forks Road.

    "I don't know what he was doing, really, he was out of it," said the driver.

    At a Comfort Inn at North Hills, a man said he saw Ortiz waving a gun at him from his rear view mirror. The paralegal student tried to flee, but the man said Ortiz pursued him.

    The man eventually turned onto Millbrook Road and crashed his car into a tree on Daywood Drive. The victim said even after he crashed his car, Ortiz wouldn't give up on him. He was hurt and bleeding when Ortiz allegedly fired a shot at him.

    From there, police said, Ortiz sideswiped another car on Millbrook near Quail Hollow Drive. According to police reports, the victim and a witness tried to follow Ortiz, but he escaped.

    Police arrested Ortiz early Friday morning on traffic, robbery and assault charges.

    "I don't think it's possible to explain something like that at least in terms of what you and I would understand," said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue. "What we know is for whatever reason, obviously, a violent string of events all leading back to same suspect."

    No one was seriously injured in any of the incidents.

    Ortiz was involved in another high-profile incident back in April. Police said he shot a man outside a McDonald's on Capital Boulevard. According to court documents, he received one-year of probation in a plea deal.

    This illegal alien was under arrest in April for shooting somebody and ICE said it was "low priority" to deport his arse? OUTRAGEOUS! Doesn't look like they even took his gun.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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