Of late, we've reported about numerous suicide-by-cop scenarios, most of which have ended in either the suspect killing himself or being fatally shot by officers.
Neither of these scenarios happened in the case of Richard Martinez, who called 911 on late Saturday, May 30, and told the operator, "I'm going to kill my wife."
But as documented by a police report on view below, as well as an audio recording shared by the Longmont Police Department, it was a close call, both for Richard and his terrified wife, Yolanda.
Yolands is a frequent poster on her Facebook page, sharing photos of her and Richard like the profile pic on view above, as well as numerous shots of Richard with kids and pets. Here's one example of the latter....
...and another:
But according to the LPD, things went terribly awry on Saturday night following a visit to the Tex Mex bar in Longmont for the celebration of a friend's birthday.
The LPD maintains that Richard became angry at Yolanda because she had spoken to other men at Tex Mex.
Shortly thereafter, the couple returned to an apartment at 1641 Main Street in Longmont. The area is captured in the following interactive graphic. If you have problems seeing the image, click "View on Google Maps."
An arrest report also included here quotes Richard as yelling at Yolanda "from the moment they got to the apartment."
He allegedly called her a "whore" and a "bitch" before pushing her down onto the bed and hitting her in the head.
The violence came to the police's attention at 11:46 p.m. via a 911 call from Richard.
The audio from the call and subsequent radio traffic can be accessed at the bottom of this post, and excerpts can also be heard in a Fox31 report.
During the call, Richard tells the dispatcher, "I'm going to kill my wife."
Upon their arrival at the scene, the police report says Yolanda stepped out of her apartment in a black dress with no shoes.
She was crying as she told the first officer she spotted, "Please help me! He tried to kill me! He hit me and choked me! He is still inside and he has a knife!"
Two knives, actually. Here's a look at them via a photo from the LPD:
An instant later, Richard is said to have stepped out of the apartment with the two knives in his left hand. He then moved one of the weapons to his right hand and took several steps in the officer's direction as Yolanda took shelter behind the law-enforcer.
As two other officers arrived, the first respondent ordered Richard, who was approximately ten yards away, to drop the knives, the police report maintains.
His quoted response: "Shoot me, just shoot me! You're going to shoot me anyway."
He was right — but the officers used Tasers instead of a firearm.
The report says Richard dropped the knives just prior to being struck by the Taser probes.
After the probes embedded themselves into him, he fell to the ground. Once the knives were moved out of his reach, he was arrested without further incident.
He's due to make his first court appearance this afternoon.
In the meantime, Yolanda spoke with Fox31 about her horrifying experience. Her interview with the station is included in the following video.
Also featured is Richard's booking photo and the aforementioned police report and 911 audio.
Richard Martinez Arrest Report
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
