A man who came in New York City from Venezuela two months ago has arbitrarily assaulted at least three people and two cops, and has been detained – and freed – six times on 14 separate counts, according to police and sources.
Arriving on June 27, 29-year-old Daniel Hernandez Martinez is accused of committing his first offense the following day, as reported by the New York Post.
The beginning of suspected Martinez’s criminal spree was the Brooklyn Costco at 976 Third Avenue. According to police, Martinez stole Dove body wash, a jar of Nutella, slippers, footwear, caps, and Gillette razor blades. He was given a small larceny charge before being freed on his own recognizance.
On July 6, he reportedly struck a Duane Reade in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle and stole a “tool kit.”
He went from shoplifting to violence the next day, according to the police. He was attempting to steal a bag of chips and some toothpaste when a security officer at a Duane Reade on West 35th in Manhattan tried to stop him. According to court records, he “pulled out a large knife and advanced toward an undercover officer” while shouting incoherently.
This time, Martinez was charged with threatening but was once more freed on his own recognizance because the offense did not qualify for bail.
Three weeks later, on July 31, he suddenly assaulted 52-year-old independent journalist Jeffrey Bradac in front of the Row Hotel, a migrant refuge in Times Square, with a bike tire. Bradac said he was there to cover the migrant inflow.
About a week later, Bradac, who had already lodged a criminal complaint, saw Martinez in front of the hotel once more and alerted the officers stationed there.
Three weeks later, on August 21 the man brutally beat a lady in Midtown by grabbing her by the hair, “dragging her across the floor and kicked her,” according to court records. He also broke her phone on West 45th Street at approximately one in the morning.
He threatened a stranger with a chain in front of 701 Eighth Ave. three days later, according to police, and was then taken into custody for harassing and intimidating with a weapon. He was once more set free with no bail.
Then, on August 28, four days later, he was detained for breaking locks on bicycles in Times Square with a large metal pipe, according to the police. He was accused by police of criminal mischief, petty theft, possession of stolen goods, and using burglary tools.
After asking to be seen by a doctor at Beth Israel Hospital, he reportedly kicked a police officer twice in the shins and stomped on his foot while he attempted to adjust his shackles. He was thus accused of attacking a policeman.
A sixth arrest for petty larceny is presently pending against Martinez in Brooklyn, and three bench warrants have been issued as a result of his failure to appear in court. Martinez was taken to Rikers Island after the court set bail at $5,000 despite the prosecution’s request for a $10,000 bail and bond in the case of the police attack.
