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MILLCREEK — A Salt Lake man was charged Friday with shooting a delivery driver in the finger after allegedly trying to breaking into the driver's vehicle.
Marcello Alfonso Martinez, 21, is charged in 3rd District Court with shooting a gun and causing injury, a second-degree felony. The charge is the latest in a series of arrests accusing him of violent behavior.
On April 24, a man was delivering food when he found two men trying to break into his car. The delivery man chased after the two and was able to grab Martinez, according to charging documents.
"Martinez fired a round at (the delivery driver), who let go of Martinez," the charges state. "(He) later noticed that his finger had been grazed by the bullet."
Martinez and the other man drove away in another vehicle. That vehicle was pulled over nearly a month later on May 20 by Ogden police who were alerted that both the vehicle and Martinez were wanted in connection with the April shooting, according to charging documents. After stopping for just 10 to 15 seconds, the vehicle sped away, according to police who pursued Martinez.
"Throughout the pursuit, the vehicle ran multiple stop signs, crossed into oncoming traffic, and at one point drove directly at a stopped police vehicle facing the opposite way in traffic and swerved away from him at the last second," the charges state.
The chase ended when police say Martinez drove into a dead-end street and then got out and ran. Officers ran after Martinez and caught him as he tried to climb over a fence, according to the charges.
"Marcello was extremely noncompliant and continued to fight with officers, paramedics, hospital staff and the deputy staff," the charges allege. "Marcello made statements to officers that he would get out of jail without any consequences for his actions and that he would get revenge on officers."
He was charged in 2nd District Court in that incident with failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop, possession of a gun by a restricted person, aggravated assault, possession of someone else's identification documents, failing to stop at the command of an officer, two counts of drug possession, interfering with an arrest, and DUI. Martinez remained in the Weber County Jail on Friday.
In December, Martinez was charged in another case with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and accused of being one of three men who robbed another man at gunpoint. A preliminary hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 18.
Those incidents come on the heels of another incident on July 3, 2020, at a TRAX platform at 350 W. South Temple.
In November of 2020, Martinez was charged for the second time in connection with the robbery and assault of a couple at that Salt Lake TRAX station. He was later convicted of assault in April of 2021 in that case and sentenced to six months in jail but was given credit for the time he had already served.
That case became complicated for prosecutors when one of the victims whom Martinez had assaulted was charged herself with killing the other victim, her boyfriend. Fernanda Tobar was convicted of manslaughter in December and in February was sentenced to six months in jail and placed on five years of probation. An arrest warrant was issued on July 21 for Tobar alleging that she failed to comply with the terms of her probation, according to court records.
