Seymour sergeant arrested for domestic violence
Police say he argued with, grabbed his wife after she refused sex
A Seymour police sergeant who twisted his wife’s limbs — once while she was holding a child — after she spurned his sexual advances in the middle of the night was arrested Wednesday in Waterbury, police said.
Sgt. Jonathan A. Martin was charged with risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct, they said.
Martin is taking some paid time off “as he works through his personal circumstances,” Seymour Deputy Chief Roberto N. Rinaldi said.
In a statement, Seymour Chief Paul Satkowski said, “We are highly disappointed by these recent events. Sgt. Jonathan Martin’s actions do not represent what we expect from our police officers. It is my hope his conduct today does not negatively reflect upon the men and women of the Seymour Police Department who come to work every day, in these unprecedented times, and conduct themselves in a professional manner and do an outstanding job protecting our community.”
According to the Waterbury police report, officers got a call from a relative of Martin’s wife about
3:15 a.m. Wednesday. The family member told them she had just messaged him to get police to her house in Waterbury’s Bunker Hill neighborhood.
While police were on their way, they learned that the woman had left the home with her two children, so the officers met them nearby. One of the children was crying, saying he’s afraid of his father, the report said. No one was injured.
The woman told an officer that she and Martin are married and live together, but their marriage is basically over. She only stays with him for the children and out of fear, according to the report, and she sleeps on the couch.
Earlier, she said, she was sleeping on the couch when Martin came home. He had been out drinking after his shift, she told police. Martin came up to her and “tried to tempt her into sexual activity,” the report said, but she pushed him off her and stood up to get away.
Martin threw a beer can at her, missing her, the report said. The can hit a wall, spilling beer everywhere, and both children woke up.
Martin argued with his wife and poked, prodded and grabbed at her as she tried to get away, she told police. She told him numerous times to stop but he would not, and she became “more and more afraid,” the report said.
She took both of their children and went into a bedroom, but Martin followed her and continued the argument, she told police. She said she kept trying to get away, and while she was holding one of their children, Martin “grabbed and twisted her right arm,” the report said.
When she sat back down on the couch, Martin grabbed and twisted her right foot, she told police. All the while, he continued to poke her as he followed her around the house, according to the report.
He also took the children’s electronic tablets and her cellphone so she couldn’t call the police, it said, but she eventually was able to get her cellphone back to contact the relative.
When police went to the house and called out to Martin, he would not respond, although he once appeared to open a curtain, the police report said. The wife didn’t have the key, and the keypad was broken, so police couldn’t get into the house. They determined there was no pressing need to force entry to make the arrest and left.
Police later went back to the home and tried again to reach Martin, but “after an extended effort” failed, the report said. Seymour’s deputy chief also responded and “after a lengthy time and another series of additional efforts, Jonathan finally emerged from the residence where he was then taken [into] custody.”
There was no active order barring Martin from having contact with his wife at the time, police said.