Nearby police officers save his life and prevent fire at gas
station
Morgan Hill – A man who was allegedly trying to set himself on fire was tackled by three Morgan Hill officers before he could douse himself with gasoline and possibly cause a fire at a gas station.
At approximately 2:30am Monday morning, three Morgan Hill officers were taking their lunch break at Denny’s on Cochrane Road when they saw Victor Martinez, 29, arguing with a clerk at a gas pump at the Chevron gas station next to the Denny’s.
Morgan Hill police Cmdr. Joe Sampson said Officer Kyle Christensen, Acting Cpl. Rodney Krewson and Sgt. Mark Brazeal saw Martinez grab a fuel nozzle at the pump and hold it over his head. He had a lighter in his other hand. The officers ran out of the restaurant and tackled Martinez as he was about to douse himself in gas.
Sampson said officers could not use their tasers, but held him down and took him into custody before he set himself, and possibly the gas station, on fire.
Martinez told police his friends kicked him out of the car for being irate and were on their way back to Salinas. Sampson said Martinez was extremely drunk and was held in the station’s drunk tank until he recovered. He was cited and released on suspicion of being drunk in public.
Several other incidents this weekend, combined with an unusually large number of service calls, kept Morgan Hill police on the move during both day and graveyard shifts.
Sampson said Monday that officers were almost overwhelmed with service calls and detectives were called in to work some cases.
“We had a lot of non-injury collisions, a bunch of domestic calls and party calls,” he said.
Friday night, officers responded at 11:55pm after paramedics reported a woman was having an anxiety attack as a response to her 7-year-old daughter telling her she was sexually molested by a live-in uncle. The woman, who was treated at her home by paramedics, told officers that the uncle and two other men had been involved in the incident. Milton Trujillo, 34, of Morgan Hill, and Abisain Aguilar, 40, of Morgan Hill, were taken into custody on child molestation allegations, Sampson said. Both men allegedly exposed themselves to the girl, and one of them allegedly pulled the girl’s pants down and fondled her.
Sampson said there were three reports of child molestation over the weekend. One will likely be passed on to San Jose police, he said, and one is under investigation.
Early Sunday morning, officers were called to a crash on Peak Avenue at Claremont Drive. Sampson said when they arrived at 5:26am they found Raymundo Cruz, 24, of Morgan Hill, wandering around. Cruz had allegedly starting drinking Saturday night, and was still impaired Sunday morning. While driving on northbound on Peak, his car crossed into the southbound lane and crashed into a car parked on the street. His vehicle bounced off that car and crashed into another, Sampson said. Cruz was cited and released on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
