(Updated) Longtime Yale police officer Lt. Roosevelt Martinez was arrested last week and charged with assault in the second degree, after he allegedly hit his wife repeatedly with a weapon until she lost consciousness.
That arrest and the events preceding it are described in an arrest warrant filed by Stratford Police Department officer Brian Sharnick, who provided his account of a meeting with the victim.
Yale’s Office of Public Affairs responded to a request for comment by confirming that Martinez has been placed on paid administrative leave. The university did not respond to questions about when he was placed on leave.
Sharnick and fellow officers were dispatched to Stratford’s Post Road Wine & Liquor store at 4 p.m. on Sept. 4 after being called by someone who knew the victim and saw her outside of the liquor store with injuries on her face. The victim told the complainant that her husband Martinez had hit her, and that he did so often.
The officers then met the victim, who was sitting in a car registered in Martinez’s name, and called Emergency Medical Services (EMS) after seeing her injuries and severe facial swelling. When officers asked her what happened, she said that she “fell on the sink in the bathroom.” But officers thought bruises on her arms looked like she had been defending herself.
When EMS arrived on the scene, they asked the victim to get out of her car. They noticed she seemed to be under the influence, but she was able to answer questions. As she got onto a stretcher, EMS and officers also noticed bruising and swelling on her legs and feet.
An officer spoke to the liquor store clerk, who said that the day before, he had seen the victim enter the liquor store twice. The first time, she had no injuries. The second time, she did.
Another Stratford officer rode with the victim in the ambulance to Bridgeport Hospital, and the victim told the officer that her husband beat her with a golf club. She said she remembered being struck three times before she passed out, while her husband continued to strike her.
Later, the victim told hospital staff that she might have been struck by a hammer or other object, but she thought it was a golf club since that’s the weapon her husband used in the past. Then, when the doctor entered her room and asked the victim if someone had assaulted her, the victim responded, “Just my husband, he used a hammer.”
She confirmed again that she passed out and was feeling full-body pain. She also had bruising on her back.
When staff asked if her husband had previously threatened her, the victim said, “He’s a good guy, he’s a cop.” Sharnick asked if he had ever done this to her before, and she said, “One other time.” She also said that her husband “finally got normal hours at work,” and according to Sharnick seemed upset with the questioning.
Regarding her intoxication, Sharnick spoke to the doctor independently about his opinion, and the doctor stated that her intoxication could be influenced by potential brain damage she might have sustained. The doctor said he was ordering imaging scans.
Martinez has worked for the Yale Police Department for nearly 20 years, and was awarded and honored in 2015 by the CT Chiefs of Police Association and YPD for being part of a team of officers who stopped and supported an individual attempting to commit suicide.
Update: On Friday, attorney David Villa of Ruane Attorneys, the law firm representing Martinez, declined to provide comment, stating that it would be premature to do so this early in the case while information is still being reviewed.