Hawaiʻi Police Department
Juvenile Aid Section
Lieutenant Lucille Melemai
Phone: 961-2254
Report No. C08019301
Mauro Ortiz
Media Release (update No. 4)
Hawaiʻi Island police have arrested a 33-year-old man who has been wanted since 2008 for the sexual assault of a female minor.
Mauro Martin Ortiz, formerly of the Puna District, was brought back to Hilo from Mexico by U.S. Marshals and was arrested Thursday (January 23) on the strength of a bench warrant and charged with kidnapping, seven counts of first-degree sexual assault and five counts of third-degree sexual assault. His bail was set at $1 million.
The sexual assault occurred early on the morning of June 21, 2008, in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna.
On July 10, 2008, a grand jury indicted Ortiz but police were unable to locate him. Police put out several media releases asking for the public’s help in finding him and he was featured for five months on the public television show “Hawaiʻi Island’s Most Wanted.”
He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday afternoon (January 24).
