Wlaf1450JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – A Knoxville man remains housed in the Campbell County Jail this morning after a weekend manhunt netted his arrest Saturday morning.
Officials said 32-year- old David Portillo, Knoxville, was already wanted out of Knox and Blount Counties when he ran from authorities after being initially stopped in a road rage incident Friday morning.
For more than 30 hours, Portillo was on the run. He was located by a Cove Lake State Park Ranger around 11:20 am Saturday at the exit 134 northbound on ramp to I-75.
Campbell County EMS responded after the ranger allegedly described the man’s condition to be disoriented.
Reports coming in Friday morning to WLAF were that a road rage incident occurred on I-75 and law enforcement caught up with Portillo, the suspected instigator, near mile marker 143, just north of the Huntsville-Oneida Exit.
After the Friday traffic stop, Portillo allegedly began running and was pursued on foot by officers in the predawn hours, sub-freezing temperatures and rough terrain. At 7am Friday, investigators stopped their foot pursuit as they awaited a helicopter. The Tennessee Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies had been searching for the man since then.
An official with central dispatch told WLAF Portillo was allegedly seen around Cove Lake State Park Friday night and ran out of sight. It was later reported that the man went into the lake. The La Follette Rescue Squad began a search by water not long after 8pm and continued it for several hours to no avail.
Portillo, yet to be arraigned, has no bond and is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, evading arrest, two counts of reckless endangerment plus resisting-stop-frisk-halt-arrest or search, according to jail records. A court date of Feb. 21 has been set for Portillo. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/06/2023-6AM)