Sex assault suspect Sergio Martinez, February 2008 (Photo: Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
From KGW8 News: (PORTLAND, Ore.) A man with a long criminal history, deported 20 times, was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison after breaking into a woman’s home last summer.
Sergio Jose Martinez, 31, thensexually assaulted the 65-year-old woman and stole her car. He was arrested after assaulting a second woman and running from police. Martinez, 31, was caught July 24 after officers chased him through a neighborhood.
According to court documents filed in March 2017, Martinez has a history of illegal entry into the United States. He has been a transient in the Portland area for more than a year and has been deported 20 times.
Martinez has at least five probation violations for re-entering the United States. His most recent removal was in November 2016, according to the March court documents.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer against Martinez, asking authorities to notify them before releasing Martinez to allow ICE to take him into custody. The Department of Homeland Security said a detainer was requested for Martinez in December 2016, but he was released into the community and authorities did not notify ICE.
Earlier this year, Multnomah County leaders and Sheriff Mike Reese wrote a letter to the community saying, “The Sheriff’s Office does not hold people in county jails on ICE detainers or conduct any immigration enforcement actions.”
Prior to the July 24 arrest, Martinez’s criminal record showed a felony conviction for burglary and three misdemeanor convictions for battery, theft, and obstructing a public officer. The court document also said he told investigators in March that he has a long history of using methamphetamine and was currently using on a daily basis.
The new charges Martinez was convicted of include first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery (two counts), second-degree assault, first-degree sex abuse, first-degree sodomy and first-degree burglary.
Police said Martinez broke into the 65-year-old woman’s home in the 1700 block of Northeast Irving Street and physically and sexually assaulted her before stealing her 2011 silver Toyota Prius.
Court documents said Martinez entered the woman’s bedroom through a window that she left open due to the heat. He spoke “calmly and quietly,” ordering the woman onto the ground, where he tied her hands and feet, and blindfolded her.
Martinez threatened to kill the woman while he sexually assaulted her, according to the probable cause affidavit. Before he left, he punched her in the head several times and slammed her head onto a wood floor.
Martinez left, taking the woman’s phone with him. She went to a neighbor’s house to call 911. Police responded to the home just after 6 a.m. The woman’s car was found that evening near Southeast 99th Avenue and Stark Street.
Later that night, officers were called to a reported disturbance between a man and a woman in the basement of a parking garage near the 2100 block of Northeast Halsey Street. Police said the Martinez was armed with a knife and he assaulted the woman.
DCG