Police Kill 18-Year-Old at Family Party : Accounts of Westminster Shooting Differ

The evening started out with a surprise party celebrating Amanda Martinez’s 41st birthday in the back yard of her Westminster home.

It ended a few feet away, in her driveway, where a Westminster policeman fired a fatal shot at Martinez’s 18-year-old-son during what police say was an attack on three officers by the crowd at the party.

On Saturday, Westminster police and district attorney’s investigators were looking into the Friday night shooting, which police said occurred when officers were attacked as they tried to detain a man suspected of abducting two girls from a nearby vehicle in a gang-related fight. Frank Anthony Martinez was shot and killed when an officer, who had been knocked down by a blow to the head, “looked up and saw an attacker coming at him,” according to a police statement.

Claim Police Brutality

But family members said Martinez was shot as he was getting up from the ground after he was chased by baton-swinging policemen, and they contend the party-goers did not attack the officers but were victims of police brutality.

“That officer pointed straight at him and a bullet went right through his heart,” Amanda Martinez said quietly as relatives and friends gathered to comfort her family Saturday. Her son, she said, was a basketball player at Westminster High School, where he was a senior, and coached sports at the local boys and girls club.

She said a recent vocational test had suggested he might pursue a career as a policeman.

“He’s never been in trouble,” Amanda Martinez said. “He never had a police record. This is just something not called for.”

Refuse to Identify Officer

Police have refused to identify the officer who fired the fatal shot, and he and his two companions have been given three-day administrative leaves of absence to give them time to recover from their injuries and obtain counseling if they desire, police said.

According to a police statement, read by Sgt. Warren O’Neill, this is what happened:

Officers were summoned to the scene of a “gang fight” at Maple Avenue and Olive Street shortly before 11 p.m. Friday. The person who called police said 15 to 20 people were attacking a vehicle and breaking out its windows. When officers arrived, they saw the damaged vehicle and were told that two female occupants had been abducted by the attacking crowd.

As officers were searching for the attackers, they came upon a man in front of a house in the 14300 block of Olive Street who matched the description of one of the suspects. A fight occurred as they attempted to detain the man, and an officer called for assistance. At the same time, about 20 people emerged from a party in the back yard and “began to confront the officers,” O’Neill said.

At some point, the man who was detained fled. When three officers chased him into the Martinez yard, they were surrounded by a “large crowd, who began to attack them with fists, feet and patio furniture.” All the officers were knocked to the ground during an ensuing fight, and two lost their batons in the struggle.

One of the officers, who was knocked down by a blow to the head with an unidentified object, drew his weapon when he looked up and saw an attacker coming at him. He fired once. A second officer also fired his gun, according to Lt. Steve Martinez.

Arrested at the party on suspicion of felony assault on a police officer was Joel Mendez Martinez, 21, of Westminster, a brother of the victim.

Treated for Injuries

The three officers were treated for injuries at Humana Hospital in Westminster, police said. They suffered head cuts, scrapes, bruises and sprains. No civilians were injured, according to police.

Martinez family members took issue with nearly every element of the police statement.

Robert Martinez, 20, an older brother of the dead man, said the family had been bowling and came home to the surprise party, which had been organized by Amanda Martinez’s six children and her sister.

“It was a family party. Everyone here was from my family, or the bowling league or my work,” he said. The incident with the car apparently happened earlier in the evening, he said, “and we had nothing to do with it.”

Robert Martinez said he and Frank were standing in their driveway just before the incident. Their older brother, Joel, had walked down the street to wait for his girlfriend, Robert Martinez said, when a police car drove by and an officer first shined a light on Joel and then detained him, forcing him to the ground.

“If he fits the description of someone who had just kidnaped somebody, why would he be walking down the street?” Robert Martinez asked. He and Frank then ran over to Joel “and we’re saying, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ”

Ran Back to Driveway

One of the officers then went after Frank, and Frank ran back to the driveway of the house, Robert said.

“I’d run too, if a cop took a swing at me,” he said.

Robert said the officers pursued Frank down the driveway, which runs the length of the house. Others at the party came out to see what was going on and the officers started swinging, Robert said. Frank was knocked to the ground, he said.

When he tried to aid his brother, Robert said, an officer took a swing at him with his baton, hitting him in the arm.

“Frank was trying to get up, and a cop pulled out his gun and shot once,” Robert said. A second officer shot a gun three more times, he said.

“He was gasping for air,” Robert said of his brother.

Frank had a pulse, he said, and an officer pulled Robert away from him and police began administering aid. It was several minutes before an ambulance arrived, he said bitterly.

Calls Statement ‘Stupid’

Robert called the police statement that the party-goers attacked officers with patio furniture “stupid.”

“The cops were the ones swinging at everyone. Everyone else was just trying to pull them apart. . . . The cops were just swinging and swinging their billy clubs. Cops were going crazy just swinging at everyone.”

Robert pointed to a welt on his forearm, which he said he had received fending off a baton, and another on his back. His father, Joel Martinez Sr., suffered two broken front teeth and an aunt received a broken nose, he said. Joel Jr. was bleeding from the head when he was taken away by officers, Amanda Martinez said.

Amanda Martinez said the officers suffered a few scratches.

“Can you compare that to killing my son and abusing my other son?” she asked. “What this officer did was just awful. (Frank) didn’t deserve to die.”

Police said they could not comment on the Martinez family’s charges. A representative of the team from the district attorney’s office that investigates police shootings could not be reached for comment.

Family Gathered

On Saturday morning, Martinez family members and friends gathered in the front yard of the modest, well-tended, wood-framed house where the shooting had occurred, quietly weeping and hugging each other. Frank’s father sat on a porch swing in a stunned silence.

“Frank was a caring person,” said Denise Durant, one of the victim’s high school teachers and a visitor at the home Saturday. “He felt deeply and had a feeling for things that a lot of people don’t even think about.”

She recalled a field trip the class took to the courthouse to sit in on a murder trial. Afterward, the judge asked if the students had any questions, she said.

“Frank said he wondered how that man (the suspect) feels hearing all those things about him,” Durant said. “He was an in-depth person who had a lot of emotion.”

Learning Problems

Frank suffered from reading and learning problems and was in Durant’s special education class. He was attending summer school “and was doing just excellent this year at Westminster High School. He was improving in all areas. He was going forward. He really wanted to do well. That’s why I feel so horrible about this.” Durant said.

Amanda Martinez said none of her six children has ever had trouble with the police. In fact, the family is familiar with several officers because police fill their cars with gasoline a half-block away at the municipal yard, she said.

Durant said the Martinezes are a giving, loving family. They often have taken in troubled youngsters who needed a place to stay, she said.

“In my conferences with parents, I’ve not often encountered a family so close. The Martinezes care about their children doing well,” Durant said. “When I heard (about the shooting) this morning, I thought it couldn’t have been a result of anything Frank or the other boys could have done because they come from this family.”