The Texas Department of Public Safety announced Thursday that Rodolfo Ortiz Gonzalez, 54, a Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive, was captured Sept. 6 in Lubbock. Gonzalez, who is affiliated with the Texas Syndicate gang, was wanted for parole violation.
His arrest was the result of a Crime Stoppers tip, and a reward of $7,500 will be paid to the tipster.
Working off information from the tip, members of the U.S. Marshals Service North Texas Fugitive Task Force including Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) special agents, found and arrested Gonzalez at a Lubbock motel.
His criminal history includes aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and burglary charges.
He is a violent offender with a history of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and burglary charges.
According to his captured poster, in the late 1980s, Gonzalez was convicted in Hale County of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. He subsequently was sentenced to 35 years in TDCJ prison.
He was released on parole from TDCJ in 2012.
In November 2014, he was arrested in Lubbock for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and later convicted of assault causes serious bodily injury.
Gonzalez had been wanted since February 2019, after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for his arrest for parole violation.
So far this year, DPS and other agencies have arrested 19 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders, including nine sex offenders and eight gang members. In addition, $32,500 in rewards have been paid for tips that have yielded arrests.
Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives or sex offenders.
To be eligible for the rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-252-8477;
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture;
- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).
All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.
Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.
