A 35-year-old man spent more than four days behind bars earlier this month when he was mistaken for another man with his same name after a traffic stop, the man's lawyer said Wednesday.

Anthony Ortiz said he tried to point out to the Rio Rancho officer who arrested him that he had a different birthday and address than the Anthony Ortiz wanted on a 1996 domestic violence warrant issued by the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, but ended up in jail anyway. He was booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center late on the night of June 26 and transported to the Santa Fe County jail in the morning on June 30, he said.

His wife, Donna Ortiz, walked in to Santa Fe County Magistrate George Anaya, Jr.'s courtroom the afternoon of June 30, explained the situation to the judge and Anaya immediately released Ortiz.

"I need to know why (the officer) affected a warrant on someone with a different date of birth," Anaya said Wednesday at a hearing on the matter. "If the officer said, 'That's close enough,' that's not acceptable to me."

Rio Rancho Officer Robert Rosales was ordered to appear at Wednesday's hearing to explain why he arrested Ortiz, but did not show up. However, Anaya re-set the matter because the order issued to Rosales did not include the reason he had to be there.

John Francis, Rio Rancho police spokesman, said Ortiz was arrested after Rosales confirmed his social security number and physical description with the warrant listed in a law enforcement database and with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department.

"All his descriptors matched and he was arrested," Francis said. "It looks on paper like the same person."

A copy of the warrant for the Anthony Ortiz who was not arrested does not list a social security number for him. Francis said the law enforcement database might contain a social security number.

Rosales told investigators from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department that some of the information Ortiz provided at the time of his arrest — including his identification and date of birth — tied Ortiz to the warrant in the law enforcement database, said Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano.

"Law enforcement does all it can to verify the identities of people on warrants," Solano said. "It's tough in New Mexico because many people have the same names. I have faith that the Rio Rancho officer did the same thing."

Still, Solano conceded, "It's obvious they arrested the wrong person."

Ortiz — who said he's never before been arrested — was pulled over about 10:50 p.m. after Officer Rosales saw him driving 50 mph in a 40 mph zone, Francis said.

Ortiz said he was heading home from his sales associate job at Home Depot in Santa Fe. He said the officer issued him warnings for speeding and for an expired registration and gave him a ticket for an expired driver's license. The officer then asked him to step out of his car, Ortiz said.

Ortiz asked the officer why, and Rosales said he was being arrested was for a domestic violence warrant out of Santa Fe. Ortiz said he protested that it wasn't him, but the officer disagreed, placed Ortiz in handcuffs and took him to the Sandoval County jail.

While he was being booked into the jail, Ortiz said he pointed out to Rosales that the Anthony Ortiz on the warrant had a birthdate of Feb. 24, 1974 and an Española post office box as an address. Ortiz said he pointed to his birthdate of April 19, 1974 and his address in Rio Rancho. The officer then called dispatchers to again confirm Ortiz's identity, he said. The dispatchers told the officer they had the right man and he was put in jail, Ortiz said.

"It was shocking being thrown in there for something I didn't do," Ortiz said. He said he felt powerless while behind bars and was forced to miss work.

Dennis Manzanares, an assistant Santa Fe County attorney, said in Magistrate Court on Wednesday the District Attorney's Office won't pursue the domestic violence case against the Anthony Ortiz from Española because it's old and the victim can't be found. He asked Anaya to dismiss the case, though the judge declined to do so and said that is up to the district attorney's office.

Deputy District Attorney Doug Couleur said Wednesday his office is still looking at the case and "will take the appropriate action."

Meanwhile, John Day, lawyer for the Anthony Ortiz who was arrested, said his client is "keeping all his options open" when asked if he plans to file a civil suit in the case.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.