JONESBORO, Ark. – A woman was arrested for aggravated assault with a machete at a gas station but the woman claimed the men she was after were burglars.
Jonesboro Police Department’s third shift responded to the late Wednesday call. Officer Nathan Coleman was en route to a residential burglary reported at 3513 Race Street at an apartment. While Coleman was responding, he heard radio traffic indicate a fight had broken out at Race Street Market. It was said to involve weapons.
When Coleman arrived, he first spoke to the alleged victim, Dwight Darrell Crayton, 24, of Jonesboro, who said he was driving down the street and picked up a guy walking around that he knew as “Big Homie.” Little is known about Big Homie except that he is a larger man who was given a ride to the Race Street Market. Crayton said he waited on the big man to buy something in the store and he returned outside, talked to someone in a red Pontiac, and got back into the vehicle.
Suddenly, a short-haired Hispanic female leaped over the privacy fence on the east side of Race Street, he said, ran to his vehicle and began hitting the right rear window with a machete. Then, the woman later identified as Yazmin Martinez, 31, of Jonesboro, was said to have jumped onto the running board and began trying to shove the machete through the vented sunroof.
Crayton said he jumped out to confront her when she swung the Friday the 13th-style weapon at him. She then was said to have busted his rear window out with the bladed weapon. He said she then ran around the market and disappeared.
As Coleman was talking to Crayton, two Hispanic females came running from the west of Race Street Market,. One of them was Martinez. They were yelling, Coleman said, but the language barrier made understanding the two difficult for him. He said she advised they had called the police in reference to a burglary and that those were the guys who did it. Officers accompanied the two to their apartment to investigate.
NEA Report confirmed the reported burglary was under investigation as of Thursday morning but the report was unavailable to the press, as it was still open.
While still at the market, Coleman obtained written statements from both the alleged victim Crayton and two witnesses. Coleman reported one witness gave a similar account to Crayton. He said a second witness gave the same account but included more about Crayton fighting Martinez. Coleman noted Martinez had injuries to her left knee and left cheek. They were photographed.
Coleman reviewed video footage of the incident from the market.
“[Big Homie] makes a purchase and then leaves the store and talks to someone near the red car for a moment,” Coleman wrote. “He then returns to the Black SUV and they pull off. I could see a head pop up and then what appeared to be Martinez climbed over the fence and ran toward the black SUV. I could see Crayton exit the vehicle and run toward Martinez. He appears to push and fight Martinez.”
Martinez was handcuffed, searched and arrested for aggravated assault and criminal mischief, first degree. The officer located a machete near her front door and she said it was the one used in the incident, according to his report. She was transported to Craighead County Detention Center.
The report stated Martinez was not a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
The burglary at her residence was being investigated Thursday, as previously mentioned.
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