Española City Police charged a Chimayó man with aggravated battery for threatening a man with a rifle, even though he never hurt him.
Officer J. Quintana filed the charges against Dominic Martinez, 20, on June 2, following a high-speed chase on June 1, where Martinez allegedly got away. A summons was issued on June 13 and he was arraigned on July 7 by Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Alexandra Naranjo, who released him on his personal recognizance and ordered him to not possess firearms or “dangerous weapons.”
Quintana wrote in the summons that at 2:43 a.m., he was sent to a house on Hindi Lane for the report of a man with a gun driving a blue BMW. As he turned onto Hindi Lane, he saw a blue BMW head onto North Riverside Drive “at a high rate of speed” with no license plate. He followed, saw the driver brandish what appeared to be a gun, and swerve between lanes.
Another officer, Andrew O’Hara, was able to identify the driver as Martinez. Quintana’s patrol sergeant called off the chase, Quintana wrote.
Back at the house, Justin Martinez, whose relationship to Dominic Martinez is unclear, told Quintana that Dominic Martinez came to his house and pointed an assault rifle with a laser sight at him, then drove away when he threatened to call police. He told officers they had both been at a house party earlier, got into a “physical altercation” and it created “conflict,” he wrote.
He told Quintana that his neighbors should have surveillance footage. When Quintana “at a later time” went to their house, they didn’t answer the door, he wrote.
Quintana charged Dominic Martinez with aggravated battery and allegedly he “did unlawfully touch or apply force” to Justin Martinez with an assault-style rifle. However, there is no allegation that Dominic Martinez shot, hit, or otherwise attacked Justin Martinez. However, he did allegedly threaten him with a gun.
He also charged Dominic Martinez with three counts of resisting arrest and one count of reckless driving.
A status conference is set for Wednesday (8/6).
The only criminal history for Dominic Martinez is driving without proof of insurance in 2020 and speeding in 2024.