Man identified after refusing to leave Indio rooftop for several hours
UPDATE: 6:15 p.m.
Residents in the 47000 block of Corta Herrera in Indio got an unusual wake-up call early Friday morning.
“This is a pretty quiet neighborhood,” one resident said. “We all know each other, and everybody’s pretty much very nice. We never really have any problems.”
One family who did not want to be identified said they started hearing weird sounds on top of their roof around 5 a.m.
“I just thought maybe it was something going on on our roof,” the homeowner said. “I thought maybe it was a cat at first, and then it was a loud thump, so my husband just kind of checked it out, and he did see somebody up there. So, I called 911 right away.”
Indio Police came to find 20-year-old Anthony Ricardo Martinez on top of their roof.
Officers said they attempted several times to talk Martinez into coming down from the roof, before eventually going up and helping bring him down.
Martinez spent more than six hours on top of the the home, leaving officers and residents worried.
“We weren’t sure really what was going on if he had any weapons, or anything up there,” the homeowner said. “My husband did see him initially, and when he saw him, he said he didn’t look like he had anything with him. He didn’t even have his shirt on. But it still concerned me, because apparently he was not well.”
One concern police officers said they had was the possibility of Martinez suffering second to third-degree burns after standing on hot tiles for several hours on top of the roof, with the tiles reaching temperatures in upwards of around 120 degrees.
“It was so hot up there,” Indio Police Sgt. Dan Marshall said. “Everyone that was involved, great restraint. Just great cooperation.
As the neighborhood returned back to normal.
“I just hope that he gets the help that he needs,” the homeowner said. “I just really was worried. I was concerned how this was going to end up. You just never know.”
Police took Martinez to JFK Memorial hospital for medical treatment.
Officers said he will be booked into jail in regards to the original felony warrant, and new charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.
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A young man wanted on a felony domestic violence warrant was seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop in an Indio residential neighborhood on Friday, prompting a nearly six-hour police standoff when he set up camp atop one of the homes, police said.
Watch dramatic video of arrest
Multiple 911 calls were received by Indio police about 5 a.m. from residents reporting a man jumping across the roofs of homes in the 47000 block of Corta Herrera, according to Sgt. Daniel Marshall.
Photos: suspect ends up in pool after falling from roof
According to Marshall, the suspect — identified as Anthony Ricardo Martinez, 20, of Indio — was combative with officers who tried to apprehend him. Police, who weren’t trying to serve the arrest warrant when Martinez was spotted by homeowners, responded to the cul-de-sac with ladders that were set up against the house.
At about 10:45 a.m., officers climbed onto the roof to try and talk Martinez down, but he attempted to flee by jumping into a swimming pool of a nearby home, Marshall said. Officers shot him with a non-lethal pellet, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment, the sergeant said.
They had to carry him Martinez to a patrol car in handcuffs and shackles as he continued to resist arrest.
Our crew at the scene said Martinez nearly fell off the roof at least a few times before he jumped into the swimming pool.
Martinez will be arrested on suspicion of trespassing and resisting arrest, as well as for the outstanding warrant, when cleared from the hospital, Marshall said. He’ll be booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio, with bail set at $100,000, Marshall said.
The neighborhood that saw the activity Friday morning is just off Monroe Street, southeast of John F. Kennedy Hospital.
