A man allegedly attacked a Speedway employee when he believed the man was rude to him.
On July 20, around 5:45 am, Gallup Police Officer Ryan Boucher was dispatched to the Speedway at 2654 E. Hwy. 66 after a fight broke out at the gas station. The caller said that four or five men were fighting outside the store. One of those men was later identified as Andrew Martin.
When Boucher arrived at the gas station he met with one of the Speedway employees, who said that he had gotten into a fight with Martin, 23, earlier that day, and he had come back to the gas station “for revenge.”
The employee said that he had walked out of the gas station and Martin began chasing him around the business with a knife. The victim said he and Martin wrestled at one point during the fight.
Martin was reportedly with two other men and a woman, and they all left the gas station in a silver Nissan Sentra, heading west on Highway 66.
The manager of the gas station said she saw Martin chasing her employee, and she also saw them fighting.
Later on, GPD Officer Elijah Bowman performed a traffic stop on the north side of the Miyamura Overpass at the intersection of Joseph M. Montoya Boulevard, and he found Martin in the vehicle that matched the gas station employee’s description.
When Boucher arrived at the traffic stop, Martin told him that he’d gone into the gas station to buy some things and when he entered the business he “had to drop his bags.”
According to Boucher’s report, Marin said the Speedway employee “gave him attitude and was very rude to him.” He said that the employee tried to start a fight.
This incident allegedly happened around 3 am. A couple hours later, Martin went back to the gas station to allegedly pick up some things he had left there.
According to Martin, that’s when the gas station employee attacked him. Martin said he was defenseless and that the gas station employee “really messed him up.”
When the officers reviewed the Speedway’s security camera footage, they saw Martin chasing the gas station employee with a knife.
Martin was transported to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center. He was charged with aggravated assault. His preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 9.
Staff Reports
