No bail for homicide suspect Melvin Portillo

 

On July 14, HCSO issued a press release about a suspect arrested for homicide in Bridgeville. They also issued an update. I chose to get bail information as I often do and give my readers extra. The full name of the suspect is Melvin Jeovany Portillo-Rodriguez.  When you don't rush to post every press release and put in effort on your own; readers benefit.

For some reason, I did not receive the update and that happens sometimes with different lists or a glitch in the County system and it isn't a big deal. I contacted HCSO and Lt. Mike Fridley confirmed 20 year old Melvin Portillo from Sacramento is the suspect. We are lucky to have Lt. Fridley stay on at HCSO and his success as a cold case investigator.

I was in a good mood but then I made the mistake of checking LOCO aka Humboldt's trash can that tries to pass off as "news." I got irked. I shouldn't but I have this allergic, auto reaction to lazy, self absorbed misfits who think they can snark about people who actually work. 

Portillo-Rodriguez was booked into the Humboldt County jail shortly after 9. a.m. this morning so he wouldnt be on the jail log until.tomorrow. LOCO would know that if they actually covered news or crime regularly. My readers know that because unlike LOCO, they actually check the jail log daily, are intelligent and capable of reading a very user friendly report and we are grateful that HCSO and the jail provide this online regularly and timely.

Instead of throwing a snit fit because they needed more details to try and pass it off as work, maybe they could try doing more original content which they do once in a blue moon and still cut and paste regurgitation.

Unlike LOCO, I respect that law enforcement, PIOS, jail are short staffed and the challenges of trying to do your job with repeat offenders, new criminals and othervlogistic nightmares created by the leadership, BOS, department heads and it is the same in courts. 

Just last week, I wrote about an entire week of pertinent information and court minutes with relevant details not being available for one case. So now with 30 cases and court minutes, new arrests, repeat offenders, I have an extra week worth of work for one case and the same case is lagging behind this week and the amount of cases pile up each week. There is a demand for the court computers, it is time consuming and made inconvenient by selfish for profit credit check companies whose employees hog up the computers for hours. 

Appeals are being held up because Humboldt courts can't provide transcripts, didnt have a court reporter and recorded proceedings. Minutes being late impact attorneys, their staff, bail bonds, investigators.

It is a choice to do a proper job.  LOCO doesn't care what law enforcement and PIOS go through. These media tools, sit on their butts, getting paid to work once in a blue moon for banal content that they try to pass off as original by demanding someone else drop everything to accomodate them. Most of the local media owners  are part of the Humboldt power status quo cabal with multiple conflicts of interests and do PR for the people they should hold accountable and ignore relevant news because they want a paycheck.

"Media" like LOCO use the inbred small town structure to silence any independent reporting or factual observation online. They expect law enforcement and PIOs to do everything for them. The people with money do the same making advertising and funding impossible. It isn't about talent; it is about who can be controlled and who strokes insecure egos.

Sometimes detectives withold information released to the public for many reasons. Sometimes people are busy and media needs to wait. Law enforcement's priority is public safety.  The jail staff have been very busy today and it is a Monday. I didnt throw a fit and waited until I could get bail information.

This is just one of the many homicides in Humboldt. The suspect is not from Humboldt. The public loses interest in local cases with local suspects very quickly. I doubt LOCO will do any meaningful follow up with this homicide. Instead of the big woop they pretend to be, maybe they could have done some actual leg work and got additional details on the homicide instead of snarking and making a big deal why a name and details were not released for a couple of hours for an arrest that just happened this morning.

HCSO Press Release:

On 7/14/2024 in the late evening, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 27000 block of Highway 36 near Bridgeville to investigate the report of a possible shooting. Deputies responded and located one deceased male. One male was subsequently arrested for homicide. There are no outstanding suspects or parties, and there is no danger or threat to the public.

This case is still under investigation.

7/17 update:

Next of kin has been notified. The identity of the decedent has been positively identified as Rafael Orlando Castillo-Cortes, age 34, of Sacramento. Castillo-Cortes and Portillo were known to each other prior to this incident. An autopsy is scheduled for later this week to determine the cause of death.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest sympathies to Rafael Orlando Castillo-Cortes’s family and friends during this difficult time. Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.