Salem man sentenced in hit-and-run crash

Article author: 
Emily Gillespie
Article publisher: 
Statesman.com
Article date: 
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Article category: 
Crime
Medium
Article Body: 

A Salem man was sentenced to almost six years in prison Monday for his role in a hit-and-run near Gervais in August that injured three people.Eleazar Martinez-Ortiz, 20, pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of probation.

He was convicted of driving his van into three people who had been standing on the shoulder of the road trying to jump-start a car. Martinez-Ortiz then reportedly left the Dodge Caravan he was driving and ran away.

The crash occurred at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 6 on Howell Prairie Road NE near Mt. Angel-Gervais Road NE.

Marion County sheriff’s deputies along with other area law enforcement including police dogs searched the area that night but did not find the driver.

After a three-day investigation, Martinez-Ortiz was arrested at a berry farm where he worked in Molalla.

 

MARTINEZ-ORTIZ, ELEAZAR - ICE hold