I-25 CRASH ENDS CHASE
Suspect caught after ramming police car, hitting several other vehicles in crosstown pursuit
Aman who police said sped away from a traffic stop — ramming a police cruiser and striking at least five other vehicles during a crosstown chase Tuesday afternoon — told officers he wanted to get away so he could be with his family, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Alex Martinez was taken into custody shortly after he spun out on Interstate 25 near Avenida César Chávez. He is charged with aggravated battery on a police officer, disarming a peace officer and aggravated fleeing. No one was injured.
According to court records, this is the fourth time Martinez has been charged with fleeing from an officer or resisting arrest.
The commotion started around noon in Northwest Albuquerque when a veteran officer pulled over 31-yearold Martinez for a minor traffic violation near Coors and Ouray NW.
The officer quickly determined Martinez had felony warrants. According to online court records, he was wanted for failing to appear at court hearings and for probation violations in three cases charging him with credit card theft, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and child abuse without great bodily harm.
That’s when, the officer said, Martinez started to get combative, resisting commands and refusing to exit his car until he was dragged out.
Officer Simon Drobik, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said the situation escalated quickly. “The fight was on,” he said. According to the complaint, Martinez tried to grab the officer’s gun and the officer used a Taser on him. The
Taser didn’t have any effect, and Martinez was able to get back in the car.
“(The officer) positioned his vehicle blocking Alex’s vehicle from fleeing,” another officer wrote in the complaint. “Alex then rammed (the officer’s) unit attempting to flee. Alex then drove his vehicle up onto the pedestrian sidewalk in front of ‘Jersey Mike’s’ (sandwich shop).”
He wrote that the officer tried to block Martinez’s car, but Martinez was able to ram his way out of the parking lot and onto Coors NW. Police gave chase. “Because we identified an individual with felony warrants and he had aggravated battery on an officer twice (once trying to get his firearm), and he showed no regard for public safety, a pursuit was engaged,” Drobik said.
Martinez — with police in pursuit — raced across town, reportedly reaching speeds of 120 mph on the interstates, until he reached Southeast Albuquerque on Interstate 25, according to the complaint. Near Avenida César Chávez, he hit a concrete barrier and officers used a pursuit intervention technique to stop him. But it wasn’t over. Police say Martinez jumped out the window and ran west into a neighborhood until the same officer who had stopped him initially took him into custody.
When interviewed, “Alex admitted to the incident and said he fled police so he could be home with his family,” the officer wrote in the complaint. “Alex stated he may have struck ‘a few’ vehicles while fleeing officers.”
He damaged five vehicles during the chase, according to reports from victims that came in throughout the afternoon, and traffic was disrupted on I-25 while officers investigated.
According to online court records, Martinez pleaded guilty to a 2009 case charging him with aggravated fleeing in Valencia County; two cases charging him with similar crimes in Bernalillo County were dismissed in 2014.