Harlem man pleads not guilty to Felonies in PC Court

Dino August Martinez, made his initial appearance hearing at the 17th Judicial Court on April 29, pleading not guilty to four charges, two of them felonies, one of the felonies an attempted assault on a peace officer.

Martinez, 51 of Harlem, is also charged with criminal engagement, a felony, obstruction of a peace officer, a misdemeanor, as well as a Driving Under the Influence – Martinez’s third charge of DUI.

On April 1, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting that the driver of a 1992 Ford Ranger was swerving over the lanes on US 191 and not allowing traffic to pass, according to court records. A deputy from the Sheriff’s Office quickly caught up with the driver and observed the vehicle veer off the shoulder of the road before nearly hitting a reflective post. The Deputy saw the driver nearly lose control of the vehicle before the Ford Ranger was brought to a complete stop. When the driver saw the deputy he took off again, swerving over both lanes of traffic and into oncoming traffic.

“The driver endangered the lives of every person in the northbound lane of US 191,” the court records state.

Martinez, who’s last known address is in Harlem, then brought the truck to a complete stop and the deputy in pursuit had to use evasive action to avoid hitting the vehicle. When the deputy approached Martinez in his vehicle he smelled a strong alcohol odor before looking into the car and seeing Martinez and a pet dog. Martinez told the deputy he had been drinking in Zortman. The deputy asked Martinez out of the car in order to perform field sobriety maneuvers and Martinez replied that he had too many beers and couldn’t complete the tests. The deputy then placed Martinez and his dog into the sheriff’s cruiser. The deputy noted that there were empty beer cans littered in the truck’s cab and that two 12-packs of beer were on the floor board. Martinez was placed under arrest for DUI.

As the deputy drove Martinez back to the station, Martinez became combative and tried breaking out windows in the sheriff’s cruiser. At the station, Martinez again refused to attempt any field sobriety maneuvers and refused to submit a breath test. A warrant was issued to extract blood from Martinez in order to determine his blood alcohol content.

Several deputies led Martinez back to a sheriff’s cruiser so he could be taken to the hospital to have blood drawn. While a deputy tried to place a seat belt on Martinez, Martinez allegedly attempted to head-butt the deputy. The deputy, however, blocked the assault attempt.

While at the hospital, Martinez reportedly become combative and started using profanity. As a result, a blood test was not taken.

At his April 29 appearance, Martinez pleaded not guilty on all counts against him and his bail was set at $20,000. If convicted of DUI, it would be the third such case against the defendant, the prior two convictions occurring in Colorado. An omnibus hearing in the case has been set for June 9.

All the crimes committed in this story are alleged and the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.