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Posted 2006-02-28
Police Arrest Suspected Gang Member After Fender Bender

Suspect Awaiting Extradition To New York


By David Reynolds

A man sitting in Rockingham County Regional Jail awaiting extradition to New York state can blame his tattoo for his predicament, according to a statement from Harrisonburg police.

Jose Sorto-Portillo, 25, was arrested last week after he gave a fake name to officers who questioned him after a fender bender in a parking lot, the statement released Monday says.

"While investigating the accident, officers noticed what they perceived to be gang-related tattoos," Lt. Kurt Boshart, spokesman for the Harrisonburg Police Department, said in the written statement.

After the accident, Sorto-Portillo told police his name was Erev Cruz, Boshart said. But when officers saw the man’s tattoos, they suspected they were being misled, he said.

Patrol officers called CHARGE, the Combined Harrisonburg And Rockingham Gang Enforcement unit, to the scene.

Soon after, Boshart says, Cruz agreed to go to the station and have a fingerprint scan.

"It said what his real name is and that he’s wanted in the state of New York," Boshart said.

No Gang Charges Filed

While the tattoos drew suspicion, Boshart said CHARGE connected Sorto-Portillo to the MS-13 gang through his affiliation with known members in Harrisonburg and New York.

MS-13 is a Salvadoran gang that began in southern California during the 1980s. The March 28, 2005, issue of Newsweek calls MS-13, "the most dangerous gang in America," and says its original members came to the United States fleeing civil war in El Salvador.

While police say Sorto-Portillo is a "confirmed gang member" he does not face any gang-related charges.

He is charged in local courts with forging a public document, a felony, and assuming the name of another, a misdemeanor, according to court documents.

He is wanted in Nassau County, New York, just east of New York City, for violating the terms of his bail in a case there, according to an extradition warrant in the court file.

Boshart said Sorto-Portillo will first face charges in New York, then return to Harrisonburg.

Help Needed To Track Aliens

On Monday, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement said Sorto-Portillo is an illegal alien from El Salvador, and that the agency put a detainer on him after his arrest in Harrisonburg.

The federal detainer means that when charges against Sorto-Portillo are resolved, he will be taken into federal custody for a deportation hearing.

The spokeswoman, Ernestine Fobbs, said she did not know why a federal detainer was not placed on Sorto-Portillo after his arrest in New York.

One possible reason, Fobbs said, is that authorities in Nassau County may not have told ICE they had an illegal in custody.

The federal government needs the help of local law enforcement to track illegal aliens after they’re arrested, Fobbs said.

"We are not going to have each and every person who is a violator in our sight," she said. "We do depend on [local police] to let us know."

Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com