Man running in traffic charged

By Abby Morris
Star Staff
amorris@starhq.com

   A Johnson City man was arrested early Saturday morning and charged after he was found running in and out of traffic on the Milligan Highway and into the path of several moving vehicles.
   Magdaleno L. Martinez, 34, 1111 E. Fairview Ave., Johnson City, was arrested by Elizabethton Police Department Ptl. Jennifer Mayberry and charged with public intoxication and vandalism/destruction of property.
   According to reports, Mayberry was on a routine patrol traveling east on the Milligan Highway in the area of Park Hill Road at the time of the incident. "A male subject ran into the roadway from the left hand side of the road. The subject ran into the side of my still-moving patrol vehicle, bounced back and started running in circles," Mayberry states in her report. "The subject had a laceration to his right cheek area and he was sweating profusely."
   Mayberry got out of her vehicle and tried to stop the man, later identified as Martinez, for his own protection but he continued to struggle with the officer and ran into the ditch line. "The subject fell into several large drainage ditches and was struck by several vehicles at slow speeds," Mayberry said. "The subject jumped onto the back of one vehicle before the driver could pull away. The subject was pulled from the vehicle to enable the driver to leave the area."
   A female who lived in the area told Mayberry that Martinez tried to enter the gate to her property and she called 911 to notify them of the incident and the ongoing struggle between Mayberry and Martinez.
   "The subject was finally contained to a yard on the right side of the road and after a brief struggle, he was handcuffed. The Carter County Sheriff's Department arrived along with other city units and the subject was escorted to (my) patrol vehicle," Mayberry said. "While en route to the jail the subject began kicking the left rear window of the patrol vehicle causing damage to the metal around the window."
   After arriving at the jail, Martinez was examined by members of the Carter County Rescue Squad and transported to Sycamore Shoals hospital where he refused treatment for the laceration to his face. He was then transported back to the Carter County Jail.
   "At this time no damage was known to any other vehicles which struck the subject," Mayberry said, adding that damage to the patrol vehicle included dents on the hood in addition to the damage to the window previously mentioned.