Knightsen Standoff Hostage Tells Deputies She Feared Being Set Ablaze
BRENTWOOD (CBS SF) -- A woman held hostage inside a Knightsen home has told investigators a terrifying tale of being sexually assaulted, tied up with duct tape, dosed with gasoline and threatened with being set on fire during a domestic violence incident that ended in a fatal shootout with deputies.
The Contra Costa Sheriff Department said the incident began early Thursday and ended with a shootout that left the suspect 44-year-old Eduardo Martinez of Bay Point -- who was the woman's ex-boyfriend dead -- and three deputies wounded.
Investigators said Martinez had extensive contacts with law enforcement. His previous arrests include: domestic battery, spousal abuse,
making criminal threats, false imprisonment, obstruction, receiving stolen property and multiple counts of driving under the influence.
"The victim, who said Martinez had a shotgun and pistol, also reported that he made threats to shoot law enforcement and said he did not want to go back to jail," the sheriff's department said in a release. "The victim, who is not being identified, was able to escape from the house."
The sheriff's department said one of the wounded deputies was was struck in his chest, but was saved by his bulletproof vest. Another was hit in his head by shotgun pellets and the third was shot in his arm. All three have been treated and released from the hospital.
Deputies went a house in the 1700 block of Green Acres Lane in Knightsen after the woman reported around 9:42 a.m. that a man had been holding her hostage and "pushed her onto a coffee table, breaking her ribs and poured gasoline on her threatening to set her on fire," according to a sheriff's department Facebook statement.
At 12:40 p.m., the sheriff's SWAT team was called. The sheriff's hostage negotiation team communicated with the suspect into the evening.
About 8:58 p.m., the suspect came out of the house and fired a shotgun at members of the SWAT team, striking three of them. The deputies returned fire and hit the suspect. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the county's protocol for officer-involved shootings, the incident is being investigated by both the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Office.
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