Moses Lake man charged with punching officer, ripping badge
Local Crime News
EPHRATA - A Moses Lake man is facing charges that he punched a police officer in the face and tore a badge off his uniform.
Jose Eduardo Martinez, 31, is charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer, domestic violence and malicious mischief following a June 5 incident.
According to the initial police report, witnesses reported to police they heard loud yelling and banging at a home on Plum Street in Moses Lake.
When officers arrived, they spoke with Martinez's mother who said that he was upset and had hit the walls of the house, causing holes.
Martinez said he was mad because he was in a sword fight with people in the house and that his mother was taking their side. The mother said that he was off his medication and she was afraid of what he would do if officers left, according to police.
When police went to arrest Martinez for hitting the house, he became irate, swung away from an officer trying to place him into handcuffs, and hit him in the face. He also tore the badge off an arresting officer's uniform, according to police. Officers responded by punching him twice in the face, using a Taser to subdue him, tackling him into a woodpile and punching him twice more in the face, before placing him into handcuffs, according to police.
Martinez was transported to Samaritan Hospital for treatment. The arresting officer reported a sore face and neck from being punched and a sore hand from hitting Martinez.
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