A Takoma Park man recently charged with raping a 10-year-old girl had robbery and assault charges in Prince George’s County dropped in January after a county police officer failed to appear in court.
Jose Israel Acosta-Ortega, 29, was arrested May 14 in the District of Columbia and charged with raping a 10-year-old member of his extended family, Montgomery County police said. He fled a Silver Spring house shared by several family members when one of them confronted him about the sexual assault.
Months earlier, Acosta-Ortega was headed to trial in Prince George’s County. The State’s Attorney’s Office had two witnesses and a police officer scheduled to testify that Acosta-Ortega and Manuel Lopez of Riverdale approached a man as he crossed a Hyattsville street, headed home froma bar. The two witnesses, bouncers at the nearby bar, had watched Acosta-Ortega grab the victim and rummage through his pockets as Lopez pulled out a box cutter and demanded cash, according to court documents.
The police officer arrived on the scene and with the help of the bouncers was able to subdue the two attackers. A search of Acosta-Ortega revealed a 12-inch kitchen knife.
But on Jan. 29, prosecutors were forced to drop all the charges when none of their witnesses, including the police officer, made it to court, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey.
Prince George’s police spokeswoman Sharon Taylor could not immediately confirm why the officer missed the court date, but noted there may be many reasons including sickness or not receiving the subpoena informing him of the court date. The state sends out all subpoenas for the district court, and police officials have said there are times when officers don’t receive them in time for court appearances.
