Man charged in officer’s death booked into El Paso County Jail

UPDATE:

El Paso Police have booked the man they say is responsible for Officer David Ortiz’ murder into the El Paso County Detention Facility. John Paul Perry was arrested near Abilene,Texas late Wednesday and was being held in the Taylor County Jail.

On Thursday evening, Perry was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility. Perry has been charged with Capital Murder in the death of Officer Ortiz who was struck by a Kia that Perry had been driving. This happened March 10 at the intersection of Lee Trevino and Vista Del Sol in east El Paso.

Police said the investigation by detectives indicated that Perry acted with intent when he crashed the Kia into Ortiz’s police motorcycle. Detectives also learned that Perry had taken the Kia without the owner’s permission.

That led to an additional charge of Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle.

Perry is currently being held at the El Paso County Detention Facility. There is no bond for the Capital Murder charge.

ORIGINAL:

The crash involving El Paso Police Officer David Ortiz is now being called a murder.

John Paul Perry, who ABC-7 discovered has a lengthy criminal record, was arrested in Merkel, Texas, six hours from El Paso. Late Thursday, jail records indicated Perry had been booked into the county jail on a Capital Murder charge.

“On March 10th of this month, an officer of this department, Officer David Ortiz, was struck and killed in what we believed was an accident,” El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said during a news conference earlier Thursday.

A connection between the two is unclear, police are also remaining tight-lipped about a possible motive.

“We were provided information that we won’t probably be able to reveal, because it may compromise the case,” Chief Allen said.

The case took nearly two weeks to investigate before police made an arrest. It was March 10th, when Officer Ortiz was hit by a car driven by John Paul Perry. Ortiz suffered serious injuries and Perry had minor injuries. Both were taken to the hospital, Perry was then released but was arrested for traffic warrants.

Four days after the crash on March 14th, Officer Ortiz died. It would be nine days later on March 23rd–when police finally arrested Perry.

With the help of the Department of Public Safety, Perry was found driving along I -20 Wednesday night in Merkel, Texas. He was arrested without incident and charged with Capital Murder.

“Merkel, Texas informed us of the situation they had and with the assistance with Merkel and Abilene, we were able to make this arrest,” Chief Allen said.

With the alleged suspect behind bars, police are now issuing a warning.

“If you commit a crime as heinous as this one, and we find out about it, you’re going to go to jail,” Chief Allen said.