Fired Cop Used Boyfriend's Taser On Her 3 Minor Children: Prosecutors

A 34-year-old deputy constable in Texas was fired and arrested this week after allegedly using a Taser on her three minor children.

Xochitl Ortiz was charged with three counts of felony injury to a child under the age of 15 after she allegedly "drive-stunned" her sons, aged 8, 11 and 12, on the hand, shoulder and backside, Law & Crime reported, citing a probable cause affidavit. She has denied the allegations.

The alleged incident occurred in April at Ortiz’s apartment in northwest Harris County.

“Any allegation of police misconduct, rather on duty or off, instantly becomes our top priority,” Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman, who hired Ortiz two years ago, wrote in a statement obtained by KPRC. “Every one of us who puts on this uniform wants to maintain the pride in our agency and our profession and we can only do that by fully investigating any allegations of wrongdoing.”

“On April 14, 2022, my office received a complaint in reference to these allegations and immediately initiated an investigation. My office, along with investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office worked together, culminating in my office placing ex-deputy Xochitl Ortiz into custody and transferring her to the investigators,” Herman continued.

The stun gun Ortiz allegedly used is believed to be a department-issued Taser that belonged to her boyfriend and fellow deputy constable Christopher Worthington, according to investigators.

According to Axon, which manufactures Tasers, drive-stunning is a “pain compliance option.” Instead of launching an electrical probe from the device, drive-stunning requires the user to physically “push (drive) the front of the [Taser] firmly against the body of the subject.”

Ortiz’s children informed their father of the alleged abuse and said that they no longer felt safe at their mother’s home, according to a probable cause finding prosecutors filed in Harris County District Court, obtained by The Daily Beast.

The boys “made consistent statements of abuse” by their mom to state child protection workers, prosecutors said. Ortiz and the children’s dad are currently going through a divorce.

Their father reported the allegations to Ortiz’s employers.

Ortiz’s boyfriend was present when she allegedly attacked the kids, according to prosecutors.

Worthington was also fired by the Harris County Constable’s Office as a result of the investigation. But he is not currently facing criminal charges.

Ortiz was initially ordered held on $450,000 bond, but the amount was eventually lowered to $150,000.

The former deputy constable claimed she only had $300 in the bank and listed her monthly income at $2,500, according to an affidavit of her present financial condition filed with the court. She also said that her monthly expenses amounted to $4,676.

“The bond amount is necessary to… ensure the safety of [Ortiz’s kids] and community,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

Jail records showed that Ortiz was no longer an inmate at the Harris County Jail as of Saturday, indicating that she was able to raise the funds and make bail.

Among the conditions of her release is that she is forbidden from coming within 200 feet of her sons, Worthington or anyone under the age of 17, as ordered by Judge Brock Thomas.