Overview
- Officers arrested Michael Arthur-Sanchez Martin on theft and outstanding felony warrants and searched him at arrest and again at booking, but a single officer failed to find a concealed handgun.
- Martin hid the gun in a toilet inside a holding cell, later retrieved it, and then assaulted Officer Jimmy Sanchez before firing a round that struck Sanchez below his body armor after passing through Martin’s thigh.
- Responding officers disarmed and detained Martin, both he and Sanchez received hospital treatment with Sanchez undergoing surgery and Martin now held without bail on multiple felony counts including attempted murder of a police officer.
- Pittsburg Police Chief Phil Galer called the double missed search a “serious failure,” identified the searching officer as young, and said the department will implement immediate corrective actions while a county review proceeds.
- Martin’s past includes a 2014 voluntary manslaughter conviction and prior gun-related charges, and the case has renewed focus on search procedures, booking-area security, transport practices, and training that officials may change going forward.