Terrified Wife Clung To Officer As Husband Approached With Knives
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - The wife of a man who called 911 over the weekend and told the dispatcher he was going to kill his wife says she upset her husband by talking to other men in a bar.
Yolanda Martinez, 38, says her husband Richard, 35, got angry after the two returned home to their apartment Saturday after a night of drinking at the Tex Mex on the 400 block of Main Street.
"He started grabbing the knife. He said 'I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you,' " Yolanda told CBS4.
Yolanda says she was terrified as her husband pushed her onto a glass coffee table. He then called 911 on himself.
In the 911 recording of the incident obtained by CBS4 the following exchange is heard:
DISPATCHER: Why did you call 911? What can I help you with?
CALLER: Because I'm gong to kill my wife.
"I don't know what triggered him to call 911," Yolanda said. "Probably because I was going hysterical. I was screaming 'Get off me, get off me.' "
Yolanda ran out of their apartment, located on the 1600 block of Main Street, while police say Richard chased after her with two large kitchen knives.
"I was screaming and crying so hard," she said.
An officer had already arrived at the property and was just outside the door when Yolanda came out.
"And she clung to the officer and he protected her as the husband followed her out the door with the knives," Longmont spokesman Jeff Satur said.
With his gun drawn and 10 feet away from Richard, the officer ordered him to drop the knives.
"He kept the knives up, he was posturing, he was leaning forward. He told officers 'You're going to have to shoot me. You're going to have to shoot me,' " Satur said.
A second officer arrived with a taser.
"Hit him in the hand, hit him in the chest and he dropped both knives, fell to the ground," Satur said.
Police were then able to take Martinez into custody.
Yolanda, who has Richard's name tattooed on the back of her hand, said her husband has never behaved aggressively towards her before.
Martinez faces several charges including attempted first-degree murder.
