Utah man wounded by Nevada police had crude bomb in vehicle

Utah man wounded by Nevada police had crude bomb in vehicle

(Adam Thomas, KSL Newsradio, File)


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OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Authorities allege that a Utah man who was wounded after a police chase and shootout in November near the Nevada-Utah state line also had a homemade bomb in his vehicle.

Anthony Christopher Martinez, 30, of Ogden has recovered from injuries and faces charges of attempted murder and possessing a bomb in the Nov. 17 police shooting following gunfire inside a strip club, the police chase and a crash outside a Nevada casino along Interstate 80, the Standard-Examiner reported Monday.

Martinez also is being investigated in an armed robbery of an Ogden credit union earlier that day, an FBI spokeswoman told the newspaper. Charges have not been filed in that case.

Court documents in Utah's Weber County said Martinez also uses the name Christopher Gallegos. Authorities previously identified him as Christopher Anthony Martinez.

Charging documents in Elko, Nevada, confirm that police found a crude explosive in his car after the confrontation with West Wendover police.

Authorities had reported earlier that they found multiple firearms in the car, and said at the time that a bomb squad robot disarmed a possible explosive device.

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An Elko County sheriff's office affidavit alleges that Martinez pistol-whipped a strip club doorman, fired a shot into the club, fled in a car with West Wendover police chasing him and engaged in a shootout with officers after crashing the car in a casino parking lot.

Martinez was critically wounded, the affidavit said. Police said they found a Glock handgun that had been used to fire 10 rounds at the officers.

Martinez was hospitalized in Salt Lake City. He recovered and was taken to the Utah State Prison to resume serving time on felony gun and drug convictions from 2011 and 2013.

He has been charged with two counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and possessing an explosive or incendiary device by the Elko County District Attorney's Office.

Elko Sheriff's Lt. Kevin McKinney said he contacted Ogden investigators after finding the recorded serial numbers of five $20 bills found in Martinez's pockets at the shootout scene reported to have been taken in the credit union robbery.

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