COLTON – The man who barricaded himself and was arrested on Saturday night is scheduled to appear in a San Bernardino courtroom on Wednesday, facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Frankie Martinez, 30, surrendered to police just after midnight, a few hours after the ordeal began with a fight at the Fantasy Topless Bar at 1091 South La Cadena Dr.
Police said a man flashed a gun after fighting with the bar’s bouncers just before 8 p.m. Reports are that the man, believed to be Martinez, fired a gun into the air, fled in a car with three other men and was spotted by Colton police.
The suspected shooter eluded police, who took the other three men into custody, while Martinez ran into a nearby apartment complex and assaulted a resident who was returning from the store.
The resident, Daniel Kim, told police that Martinez took refuge in his apartment, which included another man, Eddie Nava, and the men’s wives.
Martinez reportedly hit Nava on the head with the butt of the steel revolver. He had reportedly asked Kim to take his gun, hiding it so the police would not discover him with a weapon. Kim apparently refused to take the gun.
Kim and Nava wrestled with Martinez, said police, and took the loaded gun away from him and hid it.
Police were forced to evacuate residents from nearby apartments.
A bloodied Martinez made his way into Nava’s nearby apartment, then barricaded himself inside with Nava’s three children, ages five, eight and 11.
An Inland Valley SWAT team surrounded the apartment, asking Martinez to surrender on several occasions. Eventually, he surrendered without incident at around midnight.
Nava had been taken to a nearby hospital for medical attention to wounds on his head.
Martinez, being held on $50,000 bail, was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on charges of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary.
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