San Jose Man Charged With Dealing Guns From Taco Cart
SAN JOSE (CBS 5) - At Jose Ortiz's San Jose food cart you can get tamales for $1.50, tacos for $1.75 and – according the feds – semiautomatic handguns for a few hundred bucks.
Starting back in April, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Ortiz sold undercover San Jose officers two handguns for $700. They came back to his cart on Alum Rock and Foss Avenue over the next month and bought a small arsenal.
Federal officials said Ortiz kept the guns in this van in a plastic bag. Officers claim they bought, and Ortiz admits to selling, a total of 9 guns. Among the cache were revolvers, rifles, handguns, and a sawed-off shotgun.
Some of the serial numbers were filed off, but investigators traced one of the handguns to Southern California, where it had been reported stolen. Ortiz said another man supplied him with the guns, and he didn't ask where they came from.
Ortiz was arrested last month, but is back on the streets with his cart until his next court date. He has prior drug and weapons convictions. He claimed he didn't know he needed a license for the guns.
