There, they said, Martinez pulled out a knife and threatened the woman, saying “sex or money” before forcing her to undress. Martinez stabbed her several times when she began resisting him. She was stabbed in the temple, the forehead and face and in the abdomen, police said. The woman was able to gouge his eyes and severely bite his lip, then escape to a nearby hotel while Martinez drove away, they said. She was eventually taken to the hospital and survived.
Martinez faced new charges Friday related to a second attack, this one in Santa Ana. Prosecutors say that on Aug. 21, Martinez kidnapped a 23-year-old woman at a bus bench on Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. This time, he got out of the truck and pulled a knife on the woman and forced her into his truck, again threatening to hurt her if she didn’t have sex with him, prosecutors said. While sexually assaulting her, she struggled and Martinez cut and stabbed her before she was able to escape, prosecutors said.
A little more than a week later, Santa Ana police recognized Martinez’s truck as the one authorities had described in both attacks. Officers pulled him over and arrested him on suspicion of driving without a license. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials placed a detainer on him for possible immigration violations. Prosecutors say a DNA sample linked him to the Costa Mesa attack and that items in his truck linked him to the Santa Ana attack.
Prosecutors aren’t ruling out that there might be more victims.
“These are the types of victims who underreport what happens to them,” said Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office.
Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned for both attacks on Nov. 7. The cases will likely be consolidated into one later, Schroeder said. Martinez faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.
