VIDOR, Texas — An Orange County constable is back on the job today after being accused of pulling a gun in front of children and threatening to take his own life less than a month ago.
Orange County Precinct Four Constable Matt Ortego announced Monday morning that he was back on the job in a Facebook post saying he had been "declared to be of sound mind and released to return to work."
Last Friday the district attorney's office in Orange County confirmed it would not be pursuing a case against Ortego after Vidor Police Officers were sent to his home following a report by his ex-wife he had pulled a gun in front of her daughter and other children.
“We are refusing the case,” Krsipen Walker, an Orange County assistant district attorney, told 12News Friday morning.
“No evidence exists that he threatened anyone other than himself that night,” Walker said on Friday.
Ortego’s ex-wife had told police that Ortego had threatened to shoot her daughter and other children who were at the home according to the Vidor Police report.
In his statement on Facebook Ortego explained that since his 2021 divorce from his "high school sweetheart" he had been going through a hard time saying that things "snowballed" and ended up in the "situation we are all now aware of."
He now says that he has come to "realize I needed help with the unhealthy coping mechanism I used to deal with the stress of my life, alcohol."
"I am thankful that I have come through this with the support of my family, community, wonderful medical staff and a great team here in the Constable’s office who ran things smoothly in my absence," Ortego said in the Facebook post.
Ortego also said that he has never drank on the job while working as a constable and noted that "this issue is not uncommon with law enforcement officers."
"We are grateful for the careful review by law enforcement and the DA which concluded what we already know that no crime occurred on November 26th," Ortego’s attorney, Corey Crenshaw said in a statement released on Friday.
"Constable Ortego sincerely regrets his actions which were the result of consuming too much alcohol and being a threat only to himself," Crenshaw said in the statement.
"While mental health professionals discharged Ortego after determining that he does not have any mental illness, he has voluntarily decided to seek treatment for his drinking and is dedicated to living a life of sobriety moving forward," he also said in the statement.
Vidor Police forwarded the results of their investigation to the district attorney’s office last week.
“To the best of our knowledge" investigators have interviewed everyone who was at the home at the time of the incident and found that no child or adult was threatened other than a threat Ortego made toward himself according to a statement released Sunday, Dec. 3, by Ortego’s attorney, Corey Crenshaw.
Ortego was threatening suicide with a gun at his Vidor home, Carroll told 12News previously.
A little over an hour after officers arrived at the home that Sunday they took Ortego to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont the police incident report said.
Vidor Police Chief Rod Carroll told 12News that Ortego had been transferred to a hospital for a mental health crisis after the incident.
“Constable Ortego immediately entered a mental health facility where he remains for treatment by health professionals,” Crenshaw said in the Dec. 3 statement.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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