NewsLocal News

Actions

Bond set for hit & run driver

Posted at 6:48 PM, Apr 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-17 08:03:18-04

The man who police say is thehit and run driver who killed a motorcycle rider in South Omaha last week faced a judge for the first time since his arrest.

Police picked up 42-year-old Luis Velasquez-Ortiz on a warrant near 32nd and S last Thursday

A judge set his bond at $2 million dollars. Investigators say he's here in the United States, illegally from Guatemala.

Police say early Wednesday morning, Velasquez-Ortiz was driving a Ford Explorer at 32nd and Q and went through a stop sign, colliding with motorcyclist Juan Moreno-Tamayo, who died at the scene. Velasquez-Ortiz then drove away, appearing to run over Moreno-Tamayo's body in the process. 

Prosecutors say Ortiz has been living in Omaha for 15 years and worked at Nebraska Beef.  

The company's vice president tells 3 News Now he said he wasn't familiar with Velasquez-Ortiz's status but that he did hear of incident.  He said they do e-verify on all employees since 2001.

He said he'd have to go through personnel files tomorrow with their HR person to get specific info. Prosecutors say fraudulent state, federal and international identification documents were found when they arrested Ortiz.