IF Police: Man Involved In D.C. Gunfire Reported Missing In Oct., Has Long Rap Sheet

There is new information Monday about the Idaho Falls man police believe fired a gun near the White House over the weekend.

Police are looking for 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega, who has a lengthy criminal record in eastern Idaho.

We have learned Ortega’s family owns the Puerto Vallarta Mexican restaurant on Anderson Street in Idaho Falls.

When we reached her by phone Monday, Ortega’s mother Maria Hernandez said she was worried about her son.

“I’m really concerned about what he’s done,” she said.

Hernandez said Ortega told her he was going to Utah for a few days at the end of October. When he didn’t return on schedule, the family reported him missing.

“He was reported as a missing person in Idaho Falls back in October,” said IFPD Chief Detective Ken Brown. “So we’ve been actively trying to find him make sure he’s okay and healthy.”

IFPD said they received a call from Arlington, VA on Thursday Nov. 10. The caller said Ortega had been found and was safe.

Brown said after the Thursday contact, there was no legal reason to hold Ortega.

We dug into Ortega’s criminal history to discover a total 19 charges ranging from misdemeanors to battery in both Bonneville and Bingham counties.

Cases on Ortega’s sheet extend as far back as 2004 and include three assault charges, one burglary charge and several minor in possession of alcohol charges. His longest jail sentence from a battery charge was nearly a year suspended sentence. It appeared Ortega was only made to serve two days on the charge.

“If they need information concerning this person, they can contact our agency and we can give them all the information we have,” said Brown. “They can contact Bonneville County and Bonneville County can give them all the information they have. So there is full cooperation between agencies when it comes to something like this.”

Police are still looking for Ortega in connection to the gunshots.

He’s described as a white Hispanic man, 5-feet 11-inches tall with a medium build, brown eyes and black hair. He has a tattoo of three dots on his right hand, “Ortega” on his upper back and rosary beads on his right chest. A fourth tattoo on his left chest has hands clasped in prayer and the words “Israel” on the left side of his neck.