STRATFORD, Conn — A Yale Police Department lieutenant was charged with assault in the second degree after court papers said his wife was found visiting a Stratford liquor store with injuries to her face and body.
Witnesses who saw his wife reported the injuries to police. Roosevelt Martinez, 58, was subsequently arrested and charged.
“I was just devastated,” said Dianne, who lives near the liquor store and called the police after seeing Martinez's wife in public. “When I saw that I just, my heart dropped to my stomach.”
Dianne said she knows the woman who was hurt and saw her face was in bad shape and that she was walking funny. She said she and the store clerk called the police multiple times, waiting for them to come check her out.
“Well, that’s what people are supposed to do. If you see something, say something,” Dianne said.
An arrest warrant for Martinez states that the woman appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, but was able to able questions from police and EMS.
The document said she first told investigators that she fell on a sink in the bathroom, but later told hospital staff she may have been hit by a hammer or golf club. The warrant said the woman eventually told police it was her husband, stating, “He’s a good guy, he’s a cop.”
During the investigation, the woman also told police Martinez has done this “One other time.”
“Any woman getting beat up by a man is terrible. But when you learn that it’s an officer, someone who’s supposed to be protecting people? It’s terrible, it’s just terrible,” Dianne said.
Yale University said Martinez has been placed on paid administrative leave, but wouldn’t answer any further questions about his employment. Efforts to reach Stratford police or Yale police were unsuccessful.
Martinez is due in a Bridgeport courtroom in October.
In the meantime, Dianne and her neighbor are grateful they both spoke up.
“And it’s not the fact that I knew her, that I knew who she was. If it was a total stranger, I would have done the same thing. Because I would hope that somebody would do that for me,” Dianne said.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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