Police Say She Attacked Him With a Claw Hammer

SAN ANGELO— An alleged violent San Angelo woman has been arrested for breaking into her neighbor’s house and attacking him with a claw hammer.

Elsa Salas Martinez, 51, of San Angelo, has been arrested by the San Angelo Police Department for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

According to court documents, on December 8, 2023, a sergeant with the San Angelo Police Department was flagged down by a man in the intersection of Poe Street and East Harris Street about a hammer-wielding woman who attacked him.

A couple, the victim and a woman, were inside their residence on the 500 block of East Harris Street when extremely loud banging sounds rang through the house. When the couple went to investigate the sound, they encountered the defendant, identified as Martinez, using a claw hammer to break the residence's windows.

The victim asked Martinez what she was doing and asked her to stop breaking the windows. Then, Martinez turned to the victim and began trying to strike him with the claw side of the hammer. Twice, the defendant swung at the victim, who had to step back to avoid being struck. Then, she swung a third time and connected with the victim on his right arm. The victim said that if he had not tried to protect himself with his arms, he would have been struck in the head, neck, or face.

Martinez was found on the scene and, after she waived her Miranda Rights, claimed that the hammer was hers and that she was breaking the windows of her own residence in order to fix them.

Martinez was arrested and booked into the Tom Green County Jail on one charge of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. She is currently still an inmate being held on a $15,000 bond.