On October 23, 2018 at around 10:30 am, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Bureau received information that John Paul Martini was at a house on Rene Court in Atwater. Martini had several felony warrants for his arrest.
When Sergeant Kevin Blake pulled into the area, he saw a small BMW pulling onto Monarch Street from Rene Court. Sergeant Blake could see that Martini was the passenger in the vehicle. Sergeant Blake and Deputy Dustin Bender made a vehicle stop on the BMW. As the vehicle stopped, Martini jumped out of the passenger side seat and took off running with what looked like a grey colored bandanna.
Deputy Bender chased Martini through several yards in the neighborhood and Sergeant Blake was able to cut him off as martini came over a fence. Martini was taken into custody but no longer had the grey colored bandanna.
Sergeant Blake and Deputy Bender back tracked the area and located the gray bandanna which had a handgun wrapped up inside. The handgun appeared to be a .38 Caliber pistol and had the serial number removed. Martini was booked for a variety of charges, including felon in possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, and several felony warrants.
