A 24-year-old Salt Lake City man, Carlos Anthony Martinez, has been indicted for allegedly stealing from a dollar store and a jewelry business while armed with a hatchet and a handgun.
According to court documents, Martinez robbed a dollar store employee in Grantsville, Utah, on May 6, 2023, at gunpoint, getting away with money and merchandise. This was just the beginning of a string of violent crimes that would land Martinez behind bars.
Just weeks later, on May 26, 2023, Martinez allegedly stormed into Fred Meyer Jewelers inside Smith’s Marketplace in Bountiful, Utah, wielding a hatchet in one hand and a handgun in the other. Martinez smashed the top of a glass display case with the hatchet, causing a scene, and then pointed the handgun at an employee before making off with jewelry and fleeing the scene.
Thanks to the swift response of Bountiful Police officers, Martinez was eventually tracked down and arrested on April 15, 2024, after a signed arrest warrant was issued by the court. Martinez is now facing serious charges, including interference with commerce by robbery and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The case is being investigated jointly by the FBI Task Force Officer with the Salt Lake City Police department, investigators from the Department of Public Safety State Bureau of Investigation, and other officers from the Utah Highway Patrol and Bountiful Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Carlos A. Esqueda of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case, which is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Martinez’s initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for April 26, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah made the announcement, highlighting the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the community in preventing violent crime. The case is a prime example of the PSN program’s efforts to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
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Key Facts
- State: Utah
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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