Serial robber to await trial on no-bond hold
DA: We’re ‘lucky’ he didn’t kill someone
For the second time in three months, prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to detain an accused serial robber under a new constitutional amendment.
According to court documents, 37-year-old Martin Garcia fired shots at police officers who chased him across town after he robbed a cellphone store and a pizza place while out on conditions of release in another robbery case. Second Judicial District Judge Brett Loveless on Tuesday agreed that Garcia should remain behind bars without bond pending trial.
The chase came just months after Garcia was arrested in connection with a string of armed robberies targeting fast food restaurants, convenience stores and retailers, according to a criminal complaint. Shortly after that June arrest, prosecutors argued that Garcia was a danger to the community and should be detained.
But state District Judge Stanley Whitaker found that the state failed to prove its case, and instead ordered Garcia’s release with GPS monitoring and a curfew. In his June order, Whitaker wrote that he reset an initial detention after asking the state to call the case detective “to address the court’s questions.” Whitaker wrote that at the later hearing that prosecutors “failed to produce the detective,” and also failed to turn over reports and surveillance footage to the defense in a timely manner.
District Attorney Raúl Torrez attended Tuesday’s hearing and said afterward that it was no surprise that Garcia was facing additional charges.
“Less than 90 days ago, we came in here and explained in detail why he didn’t belong back in the community,” Torrez said. “We’re lucky that someone wasn’t injured and we’re lucky that this defendant didn’t, you know, end up killing someone while he was out on release.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutor Lisa Vigil-Roybal argued that Garcia had demonstrated that he would not comply with court orders, and that he had no regard for the safety and welfare of the community.
Garcia’s attorney, Jennifer Barela, said that judges handling the June robbery case and another auto burglary case against Garcia had already agreed to hold him without bond for failing to appear at prior hearings and failing to comply with Pretrial Services requirements. She said he also had a federal hold, though it’s not yet clear why.
She said that number of holds meant her client would not be getting out of custody and argued that Tuesday’s preventive detention hearing was a waste of the court’s resources.