Federal Way victim sues Seattle for allegedly employing kidnapper as informant

Published 3:51 pm Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Federal Way man is suing the city of Seattle and its police department for allegedly employing the man’s 2012 kidnapper as a police informant, despite his illegal residency in the U.S.

Attorney Glenn Carpenter, Jr. filed the lawsuit on April 20 in King County Superior Court on behalf of the victim, who the Mirror is choosing not to name.

Cesar Hernandez-Garcia, also known as Jessahel Ortega-Baldis or Fernando Ortega-Baldis, is currently serving prison time for kidnapping, robbing and attempting to extort the man from his Federal Way-based auto mechanic shop on Feb. 20, 2012.

The victim was at the shop at around 7:20 p.m. when Hernandez-Garcia asked if he could come look at a car.

As soon as the victim left the shop, he was forced at gun point into a van.

According to court documents, he saw two other men in the van wearing ski masks and holding black “AK47” rifles. The victim saw the two men pass a badge to the man in the back seat. He described the badge as chrome or silver, “similar to the ones that police wear on their belts,” the documents state.

The van was traveling north on Interstate 5 when the kidnappers told the victim they were taking him to see the “boss.” But the victim denied owing them money and that he hadn’t done anything to deserve what they were doing.

Hernandez-Garcia took the victim’s cell phone, keys and wallet, which had $1,300 in it because he had just been paid for a job he did for his cousin’s shop.

The men removed his shoes, tied his feet together, handcuffed him and tapped the sides of the victim’s head with the barrel of a gun.

“They asked about his family in Mexico wanting their names as well so that they could contact their gang La Familia and have them killed,” the documents state.

Denying the suggestion to call his family to say goodbye, the victim heard the men talking in what sounded like police codes, but in Spanish, as they got out of the van.

After they got back in the van, “[the victim was] pushed to the floor a few times and he believes that this would happen when police or others were around the van,” the documents state.

Not quite able to figure out what to do with the victim, the men stopped the vehicle and the victim heard Hernandez-Garcia tell a third male to “kill him” if he moved.

When he returned, Hernandez-Garcia said the “boss” would let him go if he came up with $20,000. The victim agreed and asked not to be hurt.

They returned to a location in Federal Way, near the victim’s shop and he was released. Hernandez-Garcia gave back the victim’s phone and keys but kept his wallet and license “so that they could look into this family more and keep track of him.”

He would later call and harass the victim several times throughout the following days, asking for the money.

On Feb. 23, 2012, the victim was having lunch with his brother-in-law while when Hernandez-Garcia called.

The victim let his brother-in-law listen to the call, which included death threats. The victim’s brother-in-law convinced the victim to call police and he and his family was soon relocated to a different residence.

The victim’s female cousin reported seeing a Cadillac Escalade driving in front of her house and her children’s elementary school multiple times. Another of the victim’s cousins also recalled to police Hernandez-Garcia pulling a handgun on him when he refused him service at his shop.

Hernandez-Garcia was finally arrested after Seattle police detectives assisted in pinging a previously known phone number thought to belong to the convict.

Federal Way police arrested him on Feb. 25, 2012 at his Bellevue apartment and he was interviewed.

It was during this interview he told detectives he had ties to the Mexican mafia and the La Familia gang but also that he was an informant to the Seattle police Department “and thinks that someone found out that he was a snitch.”

Police acquired a search warrant for his apartment and Cadillac where they found a handgun, “items of dominion and control,” a black ski hood with eye holes, and a different loaded semi automatic handgun. This gun was not registered.

But the victim and his attorney believe the Seattle Police Department officers, members and employees are responsible for the victim’s injuries he sustained during his kidnapping.

“On information and belief, at the time he was employed by the Seattle Police Department, Mr. Cesar Hernandez-Garcia aka Jessahel Ortega-Baldis was and had been for many years a member of the La Familia drug cartel based in Mexico,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Cesar Hernandez-Garcia aka Jessahel Ortega-Baldis and his family also had ties to the Mexican Mafia at the time of his employment with the Seattle Police Department.”

The lawsuit claims the Seattle Police Department should have known about his ties and lack of citizenship when they employed him and should have referred him for prosecution.

By employing a highly dangerous individual who was and is a member of one of the most dangerous drug cartels in the world, Seattle Police Department allowed the kidnapper to live in King County and commit crimes against the public, the lawsuit states.

Because of this, the victim is seeking damages for his kidnapping, robbing, extortion, physical and mental injuries and pain, emotional anguish, disability, permanent impairment, post traumatic stress disorder, loss of business and wages and the fact that he has to undergo another surgery after an initial one.

The Seattle Police Department could not comment on the lawsuit as it is active litigation.