Deputy’s Tale of Rescuing Kids in Fire Not True, Neighbors Say

When smoke and flames trapped three children inside their home last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Martinez said he didn’t hesitate to rush in and help rescue them.

“This is what we get paid for,” Martinez told a KABC-TV Channel 7 reporter later that night for a story the station did on the daring rescue.

But on Wednesday, internal affairs investigators said the deputy had been placed on administrative leave after witnesses accused him of lying about being a hero.

Instead of dashing into the burning home, witnesses say, Martinez stayed at his cruiser, talking on the radio, while two cousins and a neighbor braved the flames and pulled the children to safety. Now investigators are trying to determine whether the 31-year-old deputy falsified official reports on the incident, and if so, whether he could face charges.

“An incident has come to our attention that involves the possibility of misrepresentation of facts involving one of our deputies,” said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The investigation stems from a Feb. 4 fire in an unincorporated area near La Puente. Martinez, 31, saw smoke billowing from a house. The 12-year-veteran said he pulled up in his cruiser after seeing people screaming and pointing to the burning building on Villa Park Street. Children were trapped inside, they told him.

The deputy said he joined a group of men who -- after being repelled by a wall of smoke at the front door -- broke through a bedroom window and rescued the children. Martinez told his supervisors as well as TV reporters at the scene that he had pulled a 3-year-old girl from the building.

In an interview with KABC, Martinez said:

“The adrenaline’s going, and you’re thinking of saving lives.... And we just went in there. I didn’t even hesitate. We just did it. I’ve got to give credit to the, um, citizens who also helped out. They did a really good job.”

After hearing reports of the deputy’s actions on television, however, neighbors told KABC reporter Karen Carlson that the deputy was making it all up.

Sheriff’s officials would not say exactly what prompted them to launch an investigation. But KABC News Director Cheryl Fair said Carlson became suspicious about the differing versions of the rescue and called the Sheriff’s Department the day after the fire to ask more questions about Martinez’s account.

One of the rescuers, 22-year-old Brent Sanchez, told KABC, “All [Martinez] did was sit in the car while we did pretty much all the work. He’s lying. He’s blatantly lying on government paper and that’s wrong.”

On Wednesday, a neighbor who also had aided in the rescue agreed that the deputy was not involved.

“Brent and I each reached in the house and took a kid, set them down, then we walked around the perimeter of the house and we checked the bedrooms,” said Alfredo Valadez, 54. “So many kids live there, and we wanted to make sure they were OK.”

The charges of falsifying a report could carry heavy consequences for the deputy. If they were found to be true, punishment could range from a reprimand to being discharged. The matter would also be referred to the Los Angeles County district attorney to determine whether the act was criminal. In such a case, prosecutors would weigh the fact that the report was not about a crime.

Sheriff’s officials emphasized that they had yet to determine whether an official report had been falsified.

“There was information brought to us that there could be another version of the story,” said Capt. Michael Smith. “But the fact is that these are allegations, nothing is proven. Let the facts stand on their own merit.”

Richard Shinee, the deputy’s lawyer, would not discuss the investigation but said his client was bothered by the developments.

Regardless of the investigation’s conclusion, Gladys Villa said she was grateful that her children got out of the family’s burning house.

Villa said she was picking up her two other children from a nearby school when the fire started about 5 p.m. By the time she arrived, the children were safe at a neighbor’s house. Two families -- including nine children -- lived in the modest single-level house.

The fire caused $210,000 damage and was blamed on an electricity malfunction, said Dave Stone of the county Fire Department

Villa, 27, said she wasn’t even aware of the conflicting versions of how her children were rescued.

“My priorities are to make sure my children are fine and with me, and that we find a place to live,” said Villa, 27. “The rest I’m not worried about.”