Posted on Sat, Jan. 06, 2007
4-month sentence likely in bike case
KC man pleads guilty and apologizes for hitting and dragging teenage bicyclist.
By JOHN SHULTZ
The Kansas City Star

A Kansas City man will likely serve about four months in prison for running over a teenage bicyclist last year, dragging him about 200 feet.

The teen, Juan Carlos Portillo, survived with face and leg injuries.

Sergio Ortiz, 43, pleaded guilty Friday to felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the January 2006 incident.

Afterward, he approached the boy and his family and asked that they forgive him. They did.

“I’m nobody to judge him,” Portillo’s mother, Daysi Cerrano said. “I do forgive him.”

Under terms of Ortiz’s plea deal, the state will recommend that he serve no more than 120 days of whatever prison sentence Jackson County Circuit Judge Jon Gray will hand down. Ortiz faces up to four years in prison on the felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

If he completes the 120 days without incident, Ortiz will probably be placed on probation, Gray told him.

The probation runs five years, and as long as he doesn’t get into further trouble, he won’t have to serve any more time.

Ortiz, 43, is not a U.S. citizen, however, and Gray cautioned that the felony conviction may affect his residency.

According to court records, the wreck occurred on Truman Road near Bennington Avenue. Ortiz was driving through a parking lot and struck the boy, dragging him onto Truman Road.
To reach John Shultz, call (816) 234-4427 or send e-mail to jshultz@kcstar.com.