Cops: Man menaced shelter staff, officers when asked to take sobriety test

MIDDLETOWN >> A 48-yearold man is being held in lockup after threatening to harm staff at a shelter while intoxicated then menacing officers at police headquarters while going through the arrest process, police allege.

On Jan. 4, dispatchers received a report of a heavily intoxicated man threatening another individual at a shelter on Silver Street. Soon afterward, city officers were alerted by Connecticut Valley Hospital police that Edgardo A. Martinez was walking on Silver Street near the Route 9 Exit 14 off-ramp, according to the report.

Martinez reportedly told police he is a member of the Latin Kings, entered several women’s unlocked rooms at the facility and solicited intercourse from them for $20. A staff member said she asked permission to administer a breathalyzer test to Martinez because she suspected he was drunk and he immediately became aggressive, moving toward her and another staff member, “posturing,” yelling and swearing at them.

After being told she was going to call 911, Martinez allegedly said, “B-tch, if you call the police then payback is a b-tch.”

Once officers apprehended Martinez, they said he denied the allegations and claimed he has spent half his life in prison. While being booked, authorities said he became verbally abusive, threatened officers by saying if anyone touched him, he would “break their jaws,” puffed his chest out, clenched his fists and “randomly banged his fists” on a desk.

Martinez was charged with breach of peace and failure to allow fingerprinting. He is being held in lieu of a $5,000 bond for a Jan. 12 court appearance.