Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Deputies arrest man who fled from law enforcement

From staff reports
Sheriff’s deputies have taken into custody a man who ran from law enforcement after being pulled over along Interstate 90 near Medical Lake this morning. During the traffic stop shortly before 11 a.m., a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy saw a rifle inside the vehicle. Deputy J. Thurman asked the driver, later identified as Isidro Mendez-Ortega, 42, for his identification. Ortega handed over an Oregon State identification card and an allegedly forged social security card, said Craig Chamberlin, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. Deputy Thurman was unable to confirm Ortega’s identity and kept the rifle in the patrol vehicle for safekeeping. Border patrol was called but the suspect fled from sheriff’s deputies during the wait. Multiple agencies assisted in the search, including sheriff’s K-9 Jet, who found the man in a vacant residence along Silver Lake Road, Chamberlin said. Ortega was arrested and taken into custody. He faces charges including forgery, resisting arrest, being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and residential burglary, Chamberlin said. Border patrol agents are familiar with Ortega according to a Sheriff’s office news release. He was deported from the United States on a prior occasion and obtained a fake Social Security card.