Matthew John Ortega, 33, of Dittmer has been charged with five felonies after he allegedly pointed a gun at a Hillsboro-area gas station clerk and customer and robbed the business. Ortega was arrested three days later after he crashed a motorcycle in the Goldman area north of Hillsboro, authorities reported.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Ortega on Thursday, June 29, with first-degree robbery, a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison; first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm, each one a class D felony that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison; unlawful use of a weapon, a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison; and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison, court records show.
Ortega, a prior offender, was being held Friday, June 30, without bond at Jefferson County in Hillsboro. An attorney for Ortega was not listed in court records.
On June 25, Ortega arrived at the Tishomingo Quick Stop gas station, 7690 Hillsboro-House Springs Road, north of Hillsboro on a 2005 Suzuki motorcycle that had Chinese writing on it. The motorcycle had been reported stolen by the Clayton Police, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
Ortega entered the store wearing a black motorcycle helmet that completely covered his face and head, a white T-shirt, black hooded sweatshirt, black capris pants and black gloves. He allegedly pointed a silver-and-black gun at the convenience store clerk and demanded money, the report said.
While waiting for the clerk, he allegedly pointed the gun at a customer. He fled the store with an unknown amount of money and rode away on the motorcycle, according to the report.
Then, at 11:35 a.m. Wednesday, June 28, Ortega was riding a southbound 2005 Suzuki GSX 1300R at Old Hwy. 21 and Larry Lane and the motorcycle overturned onto its right side. Ortega was seriously injured and taken by Big River Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
He was wearing a helmet, and the motorcycle was moderately damaged.
The highway patrol arrested Ortega at 1:50 p.m. that day at the hospital, the report said.
According to a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post, a detective bureau analyst learned about the motorcycle accident and believed the Suzuki motorcycle was the same one involved in the gas station robbery. She contacted the highway patrol and learned Ortega had been taken to Mercy South.
A Sheriff’s Office crime scene analyst found fingerprints on the motorcycle and other evidence that led to Ortega’s arrest.
The probable-cause statement said Ortega attempted to flee from the hospital before his arrest.
Court records show Ortega previously was convicted on two felonies in St. Louis County.
In June 2021, he pleaded guilty to first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle connected to a May 2019 arrest in Maplewood and to felony stealing of a motor vehicle stemming from a June 2019 arrest in Kirkwood. He was sentenced to one year in the St. Louis County Jail, court documents said.