Violent San Angelo Man Arrested for Brutal Assault and Robbery

SAN ANGELO, TX— A violent San Angelo man was indicted for Aggravated Assault and Robbery after he attacked a woman with a machete and a baseball bat and robbed a man.

Frank Alton Martinez, 41, of San Angelo, has been indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Robbery.

According to court documents, on April 15, 2024, San Angelo police responded to Shannon Medical Center regarding an assault victim. When the officer arrived, the victim was being treated, and it was learned that she had a collapsed lung, three broken ribs, and several deep lacerations to her head and right arm. The victim also had defensive wounds on her hands and swollen eyes.

Video surveillance footage from Shannon showed that at 2:07 a.m., a silver-colored older model Dodge Durango pulled into the Emergency Room parking lot and pulled just out of camera view. Approximately five minutes later, the female victim walked into frame, barefoot, then into the emergency room lobby. The suspect's Dodge Durango left the parking lot with no lights on as she was walking into the hospital.

The victim had no identification and was being treated as a “Jane Doe.” Several nurses were treating the victim, and the investigator observed the victim’s badly bruised hands, which were purple in color. She had cuts that appeared to be defensive wounds, and both her eyes were swollen, with her left eye being swollen shut. The victim also had a gash on her forehead, other lacerations on her head, and bruising throughout her entire body.

Investigators were unable to speak with the victim due to her treatment and confused state. While inside the room, a strong smell of gasoline came from her body, which others in the room smelled as well.

Crime Scene Technicians responded to gather evidence and were able to identify the victim, after which she was intubated and placed in Intensive Care.

No initial statement could be gathered after.

Through identifying the victim, contact was made with her father, who said the suspect, Martinez, drives a silver-colored Dodge Durango and his residence was located on Iris Street in San Angelo.

That same day at 6:39 a.m., a San Angelo police officer located the Durango parking in the driveway of a house in the 200 block of Iris Street. When investigators arrived at Iris Street, remnants of blood on the exterior of the vehicle were observed, and a machete was left on the front seat of the vehicle.

Officers made several attempts to contact a residence at the house but were unsuccessful, and no blood droplets or spatter were observed that would indicate the assault occurred at the residence.

The Durango was towed to the San Angelo Police Department storage area to preserve possible evidence inside the vehicle.

Then at 9:20 a.m. on April 15, 2024, investigators were contacted and told that Martinez was being evicted from the residence on Iris Street. The caller said she observed Martinez leave the residence barefoot and pushing a green bicycle.

Martinez was located in the 300 block of Penrose Street by a detective. Martinez agreed to speak with him and a non-custodial interview was conducted.

Martinez allegedly told both the detective and the investigator that he did not know what happened to the victim and that he was told she was in the hospital by a third party. He said that he and the victim reside together at the Iris Street residence and that he did not assault the victim. Martinez said that he picked up the victim from the Park Motel on April 14, 2024, and he disclosed two names of individuals he believed had contact with the victim.

Martinez then said to the investigator he had been asleep all night on April 14, and he did not drive the Durango or drop off the victim at the hospital in the early morning hours on April 15.

The investigator did not observe any significant injuries on Martinez other than old bruises and a small cut on his finger. Martinez allegedly said his injuries were from work.

On April 16, 2024, at 1:24 p.m., follow-up interviews were conducted with the two individuals at the Park Motel. The witness was an associate of the victim and, on April 13, visited the victim and observed her face to be swollen. The next day, the victim showed up to the witness’s room around 7:30 a.m., and her eyes were swollen and black.

Then, the witness said the victim told her that Martinez assaulted her with a bat and broke her ribs. The witness said that the victim left with Martinez in the Durango on April 14 and that was the last time she saw the victim.

The other individual at the Park Motel was interviewed and said the victim visited her the night of April 13. The victim had bruises all over her body and complained her ribs were possibly broken.

On April 16, CSI technicians, a detective, and the investigator conducted a search of the Dodge Durango, where dried blood and blood spatter were present in a significant portion of the vehicle’s rear passenger compartment. Substantial loss of blood occurred in the same area. Also, the odor of gasoline was inside the vehicle. Several articles of clothing that smelled of gas were inside the vehicle.

A wallet with Martinez’s identification inside was found, and personal papers with his name were found inside the vehicle as well.

Written consent to search the Iris Street residend was obtained on April 16 at 2:49 p.m. and six baseball bats were located in the kitchen area. They were seized as evidence.

On April 19, at 5:30 a.m., the Shannon ICU contacted the investigator and said the victim was awake and talking. During an interview with the victim, she said that Martin was the person who assaulted her with a machete and a bat.

The victim said that the assault occurred in a secluded area, but she did not know where they were at. She said that Martinez poured gasoline on her while she was in the back of the vehicle and that he threatened to kill her and her family if she talked to the police. The victim also said that she believed she was going to die.

After the assault, the victim said that Martinez dropped her off at the Shannon Emergency Room.

Martinez was arrested on April 19, 2024, and is currently an inmate in the Tom Green County Jail being held on a $750,000 bond.

Martinez was also indicted for Robbery that occurred on March 18, 2024.