Trail of ‘Pack Rat’ Is Strewn With Debris and Clouded With Mystery

The junk-laden, garbage-strewn trail of Don Hyatt Martin, known as the city’s “pack rat,” has cost Los Angeles $157,000 in cleanup expenses the last two years, and still all the debris hasn’t been cleared.

At first, frustrated city officials viewed Martin, 50, as simply a stubborn nuisance, a reclusive oddball with a mystifying appetite for junk and an infuriating disregard for orders to clean up his many properties, most of them in the San Fernando Valley.

But, during an unusual bond hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court last week, witnesses--including a Los Angeles Fire Department inspector--drew a new, possibly more menacing picture of the man described by a city prosecutor as a modern-day Howard Hughes.

They testified that Martin is a savvy businessman who uses phony identification during real estate transactions, has tried to run down a fire inspector and, most recently, was arrested for trespassing in the backyard of a witness against him in a junk-related criminal case.

Relying on such testimony, Deputy City Atty. John C. Rocke is seeking a “peace bond” against Martin--a seldom-used device that acts as insurance against violence that authorities fear will happen, instead of for acts already alleged to have taken place.

Martin declined to be interviewed last week, saying he was too busy preparing his legal defense and acting as his own attorney in court. At one point during the bond hearing Friday, he bemoaned the “libelous statements” he said witnesses made about him during the two-week-long hearing.

Martin was arrested by Los Angeles police Aug. 27, reportedly after he was caught in his next-door neighbor’s backyard in North Hollywood. The neighbor, Mario Pineda, is a key witness against Martin in junk cases involving multiple code violations. Trespassing would violate a court order to leave Pineda alone.

At the North Hollywood police station, Martin became belligerent when police tried to obtain his fingerprints, according to a police report. He threw one officer into a table and then heaved a typewriter at him, just missing his head, the report said, adding that officers had to subdue Martin with a tranquilizer from a dart gun to obtain the fingerprints.

Stemming from that incident, Martin also faces charges of resisting a police officer, assault and battery, destruction of property and vandalism. He is in Los Angeles County Jail, claiming he is unable to post his $7,000 bond.

Rocke described Martin as a mysterious man who authorities believe has applied for driver’s licenses under as many as 12 names. Some are the names of people who have died; others may be fictitious, authorities say. They say they have no reason to suspect Martin of involvement in any death. He may simply select names from the obituary notices, one detective suggested.

Charles W. Johnson, a retired Reseda resident, testified that he became entangled in a real estate deal in 1983 with a man known to him as Bob Baker (B.B.) Goodart. The deal soured, with Johnson foreclosing on the man. Johnson finally retrieved his property at great expense, he said.

Guilty of Perjury

About the time Johnson learned that the man he knew as Goodart was really Martin, Martin pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury stemming from obtaining driver’s licenses under phony names. He was placed on probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling.

As for the real Goodart, police say a man by the name of Robert Raymond Goodart, who they believe was acquainted with Martin, was found dead of natural causes in a drainage ditch in the Long Beach area in 1985. Johnson testified that Martin now has excavating equipment bearing the name Goodart & Surefoot Excavating Co.

Johnson recited two of Martin’s aliases, one believed to be the name of a dead lawyer and the other of a man Martin may have known through a real estate transaction, who is also believed to be dead.

“If he’s ever released on bond, I’m very much afraid,” Johnson said. He fears that Martin might retaliate against him, he said, because of what he knows and his complaints to authorities.

Martin’s questioning of witnesses seemed to indicate that he believes he is the victim of lies.

At one point during the hearing, he asked Johnson in an incredulous voice: “Is it your belief that everyone I’ve done business with is now dead?”

Over the last four years, authorities contend, Martin has dumped tons of junk--everything from mildewed mattresses to chopped palm leaves to rusty refrigerators--on properties scattered throughout the Valley.

Termites in Debris

The debris attracted termites, said health, building, safety and fire officials. Neighbors were infuriated, and city workers have had to clean up his properties because they say Martin refuses to do so. They have even torn down a condemned North Hollywood apartment building he owned that was infested with termites and filled with junk.

Because of his aliases, no one knows how much property Martin owns or what he is worth. At one time he owned at least 13 properties, Rocke said, commenting that they might just be “the tip of the iceberg.” During a recent 9-month period, he sold five parcels for a total of $1,042,000, Rocke said.

“Then he has the audacity to ask for a public defender,” Rocke said. Martin insists he has no money--not even the $700 needed to post his $7,000 bond.

Deals in Cash

One fact is clear: He prefers to deal in cash.

Michael Theule, an inspector with the legal division of the Los Angeles Fire Department, was supervising the cleanup of one of Martin’s properties in the Valley when workers got an urgent call from Martin’s father asking them not to touch debris in the kitchen because $10,000 in cash was hidden there.

“It was too late--we’d already taken it to the landfill,” Theule said. Martin’s father asked them to look for another stash of $10,000 in the next of Martin’s properties scheduled for cleanup. At the house, they found the cash amid rubble in the kitchen, Theule said.

“It would take someone the rest of his life to unravel the trail of deception left by Martin,” Theule said. “Trying to pin him down is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. He’s extremely intelligent; he’s using the cover of a reclusive hermit to get rich.”

Theule believes he has good reason to fear Martin. He testified that Martin once gunned his motorcycle’s engine and apparently tried to run Theule down as he was trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.

Cohen won’t rule on the issuance of the peace bond until all witnesses have testified, possibly this week. Only three have testified so far. Just what effect the bond would have is unclear, because the maximum the judge can order is $5,000 on top of Martin’s other bond.

Meanwhile, Martin faces trial Sept. 24 on charges including trespassing and assaulting a police officer. He is scheduled for trial Sept. 28 on five misdemeanor cases involving trash on his property. He also faces a charge of violating probation by storing junked refrigerators on his property.