Moses Lake man arrested in attempted murder case
A 27-year-old Moses Lake man was arrested after an attempted murder last Friday night. Luis Angel Ortega was arrested for suspicion of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree robbery, and second-degree attempted murder.
COURTESY PHOTO/GCSO
MOSES LAKE – The Grant County Sheriff’s Office arrested 27-year-old Luis Angel Ortega on Tuesday morning after an that investigators describe as an attempted murder last Friday night.
Ortega is lodged in Grant County Jail for suspicion of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree robbery and second-degree attempted murder.
The incident that led to Ortega’s arrest began Friday night at a home on Kathy Drive Northeast in unincorporated Moses Lake. The victim, according to GCSO, said during a confrontation, Ortega hit him on the head with a handgun and then tried to shoot the victim. However, the gun jammed and the victim was able to escape, according to information from GCSO.
The victim sought help and received hospital treatment for a head wound. The victim also reported that his gold necklace and bracelet were taken during the attack.
“It was only isolated to the parties that were involved,” GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said.
Throughout the weekend, GCSO teamed up with the Moses Lake Police Department to find Ortega.
“This guy was caught, not just because of the sheriff's office, but because of the other agencies that stepped in to help us find the suspect,” Foreman said. “The suspect has some connection to Spokane. Once we learned that, we reached out to partners in the Spokane area to see if they could find him over there. They continued to try. They received information that he was returning to Grant County, and we were able to act on that information. We were able to conduct a traffic stop and take him into custody.”
Agencies, including MLPD, Washington State Patrol, Multi Agency Communications Center, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Department of Corrections, Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Kalispel Tribal Police, looked in several different places for Ortega. With that help, he was tracked down in Grant County and arrested during a traffic stop just east of Moses Lake.
“Once the vehicle was found in Grant County, deputies performed a traffic stop, and he was inside the vehicle, and he was taken into custody without incident,” Foreman said.