A Guttenberg woman has been charged with spitting in a police officer’s eyes and biting two others – as well as an EMT – while resisting arrest early Monday morning, authorities said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Martha S. Martillo, 19, of Guttenberg, was charged with throwing bodily fluid at law enforcement causing bodily injury, two counts of throwing bodily fluid at law enforcement, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer causing bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on EMS personnel causing bodily injury, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, according to Police Lt. Aleksandar Ramadanovic.
Yesterday at approximately 4:52 a.m., members of the Guttenberg Police Department’s Patrol Division responded to a residence on Jackson Street after receiving a report of a fight.
Immediately upon their arrival, officers heard loud yelling coming from inside of the apartment.
During their on-scene investigation, officers observed the apartment in disarray, with food spilled and smeared on some of the walls.
Additionally, they uncovered Martillo was upset with some of the individuals present in the apartment because she wanted her cellphone and her sweater back.
While officers were speaking with the caller, she continued screaming and was restrained in handcuffs for the duration of the investigation in order to prevent more violence.
As the result of her behavior, officers summoned the assistance of North Bergen’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to evaluate Martillo.
While waiting for EMS to arrive, Ms. Martillo continued behaving erratically, screaming that she wanted her cellphone. Officers had recovered her cellphone and attempted to calm her down without success.
Moments later, North Bergen EMS arrived on the scene and officers attempted to guide her down a staircase for her evaluation. Martillo continued to behave erratically and refused to cooperate.
Officers had to resort to picking her up and carrying her down the flight of stairs in order to try and avoid her combative behavior.
While carrying her down the flight of stairs, she was kicking and screaming, during which she kicked one of the responding officers with her foot.
Once outside, Martillo was seated on the sidewalk while waiting for the EMS stretcher to be set up. When it was time to seat her on the stretcher, she again became agitated and did not cooperate with EMT and officer efforts to calm her down.
Officers had to pick her up again to seat her on the stretcher. While attempting to re-adjust her handcuffs, she spit in one of the responding officer’s eyes.
When asked why she spit on him, she stated she needed to spit. As one of North Bergen’s EMTs was attempting to assist our officers, Martillo bit his forearm. During the struggle, she also bit another responding officer on her leg.
After a significant struggle to get the arrestee into the ambulance, responding officers and EMTs successfully transported her to a local hospital for a medical evaluation.
Once at a local hospital, Martillo again assaulted one of the responding officers who was present in the emergency room. As the result of her actions, she was issued the aforementioned charges.
They were submitted on a complaint warrant and she will be lodged in the Hudson County Correctional Center after she is medically cleared for incarceration.
“I would like to commend the efforts of my officers and the EMTs from North Bergen’s Emergency Medical Services. Everyday, our first responders are exposed to many different forms of crisis that can subsequently lead to them suffering from various injuries or being exposed to communicable diseases,” added Chief Frank Pelaez.
“This is a perfect example of the difficult situations our first responders encounter and unfortunately in this case, some of my officers and an EMT were injured after being assaulted by Ms. Martillo. I wish our first responders a speedy recovery and am eager for them to return and continue to serve our residents.”
If anyone has any information pertaining to this incident, they are encouraged to contact the Guttenberg Police Department at 201-868-3300 or email Lt. Steven Diaz at sdiaz@guttenbergpolice.org or Det. Sgt. Marcin Rysiec at mrysiec@guttenbergpolice.org.
