Chicken Express Robber Sentenced to 18 Years

Michael Anthony Martinez slouched in his seat in Judge Ben Woodward’s 119^th District Court on Tuesday, face long and eyebrows furrowed as he entered a plea of guilty to aggravated robbery and methamphetamine possession and was sentenced to 18 years.

The 20-year-old has been in jail for the offenses since May 21, 2014, when investigators with the San Angelo Police Department Special Operations Section set up surveillance on his apartment in the 2400 block of Lillie St. and took him into custody around 2:30 p.m.

The night before his arrest, on May 20, a store manager of the Chicken Express located at 2831 N. Bryant was sitting in his car preparing to leave the store at around 10:45 p.m., when Martinez, masked and in dark clothing, appeared in the window with a handgun and demanded the night deposit.

The manager handed over the eatery’s bank bag and Martinez fled on foot, running in the direction of Hirschfeld Steel.

Responding officers established a perimeter in the area and a K9 team began a track that led them to a fence that separated Hirschfeld Steel and Nueva Vista apartment complex, however Martinez was not located.

A partial palm print left on the victim’s vehicle identified Martinez as the suspect, and when he was taken into custody the following afternoon police located the mask used in the bank bag heist, as well as the suspected handgun.

Martinez was also in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana at the time of arrest and had outstanding warrants.

On Jan. 13, Martinez pled guilty to one count of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and one count of possession, a third-degree felony.

For the robbery charge, Martinez was sentenced to 18 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). He was also sentenced to 10 years for the possession charge, however both sentences will run concurrently.