SAN ANTONIO — Now that 28-year-old Baldemar Martinez is jailed on a deadly conduct charge, police and court documents are offering a glimpse into what led up to a 48-hour standoff in south east San Antonio.
The two-day ordeal for neighbors in the Southcross Ranch area ended quietly and mostly without notice.
Police said late in the day Thursday, they made a decision to release SWAT and SCU specialty officers from the scene on Diamondback Trail. Police said they left covert units watching the house though, and as soon as Martinez left his home in an SUV with another person, a traffic stop was initiated in the 4700 block of East Ranch Road, which is at the end of his block.
Police said after holding officers and his neighbors at bay for two long days and nights, Martinez was taken into custody without incident.
They said in addition to the most recent charge of deadly conduct, Martinez also had warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a probation violation. All three charges are felonies, according to police.
Police are well familiar with Martinez, as he has been arrested a number of times.
Police said his latest encounter with officers began Tuesday evening. Police were called to the Martinez home in the 5400 block of Diamondback Trail by a neighbor who said Martinez acted erratically, threw objects at an adjacent home and then fired a shot at a home and a neighbor's dog after making violent threats.
One neighbor told police they saw Martinez use a black pistol to fire a shot, and the intended target told police the incident was recorded by their home surveillance system.
The first arriving officers on the scene said Martinez was able to get back inside his home, and they heard gunshots coming from inside.
Martinez refused commands to come outside and talk with officers, beginning what turned out to be a long period of bullhorn hounding, as negotiators tried all kinds of different messages to get him to give up.
Witnesses for blocks said they could hear police calling Martinez by name, telling him to be a man and to stop wasting everyone's time. Disgruntled neighbors posted their disgust on social media sites, saying they believed police had turned off water and power to the home in an unsuccessful effort to get Martinez out.
On Friday, neighbors who ventured out of their homes did not want to comment on the record, but several expressed dismay for what they call a two-year reign of trouble.
Many remember being forced out of their homes in May 2020, when Martinez engaged in another multi-hour standoff with police after shooting one of his neighbors.
In that incident, one man suffered a graze wound and was not seriously injured and another woman escaped injury when Martinez fired a shot in her direction.
The case history on that charge is long. Jailed on May 18, 2020, online court records show Martinez was indicted by a grand jury on August 11 and then released on bond by August 20.
After failing to appear for court in January 2021, Martinez was booked into jail again on March 27.
Records indicate he was released again on April 22, with a deferred adjudication deal, wherein he was given a three year term. The deal did not last long, as a motion to revoke his status was issued September 13, 2021 and he was arrested again October 6, 2021. In December, court records show Martinez was again given another opportunity to continue his probated sentence and he was released from jail.
Ordered to participate in drug treatment and pass weekly urine tests, records show Martinez was again revoked on August 23, 2021 and arrested again.
That action followed a charge of criminal mischief on August 21, 2021. Court records indicate Martinez entered a no contest plea and was fined $500.
By December, he was continued on probation again until August 23, 2022, when another motion to revoke was filed.
Before he was served and jailed, Martinez became involved in the next round of trouble that began September 13.
One neighbor who said they have been an eyewitness to a number of incidents involving Martinez and guns expressed dismay over the revolving door Martinez has been able to continuously walk through.
The neighbor said they listened to Police Chief William McManus talk about the length of the standoff and a desire to treat Martinez humanely and do him no harm. The neighbor exclaimed "What about the rest of us? Do you think it's humane for us to continue to live in fear, not knowing when the shooting will begin again!"
The neighbor said she longs for a time when she will no longer have to check jail records on a daily basis to see if Martinez has been able to bond out of jail again.
Bond on the most recent deadly conduct charge has been set at $40,000. A jail spokesman said there are special conditions attached to the bond, but if Martinez is able to meet them he would, once again, be eligible to walk out of jail. Some of the conditions include a GPS monitor, drug and alcohol testing, a no contact order for the victims and a firearms prohibition.
Martinez has a pre-hearing set in the 144th District Court on November 2.