FORT WORTH, Texas — The arrest warrant for a Fort Worth police officer charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon states that the alleged victim was not aware of the collision that led to him getting shot.
William Martin, the officer, was off-duty and driving home at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 3 on I-35 when he called 911 to report a collision between him and someone driving a red 2006 Ford F-150, and the driver was fleeing the scene.
Martin followed the other driver, Samuel Christopher, and both vehicles came to a stop on the freeway just north of Felix Street, the warrant states. Martin then got out of his car and fired three shots at Christopher with his handgun. Christopher reportedly got back in his car and took off with Martin following him again, the warrant states.
Officers then made the scene and stopped both vehicles further down the service road of I-35W, the warrant states, and Christopher was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for his injuries.
According to the warrant, Christopher told police he was not aware of any collision, but noticed Martin closely following him, constantly changing lanes to stay behind his vehicle. Unaware Martin was a police officer, he tried to get away, but Martin sped past him and pulled his vehicle in front of Christopher, causing his truck to collide with Martin's vehicle, the warrant states.
After the collision, Christopher reportedly told police he tried to drive away as Martin had got out with the handgun, at which point Martin shot at him three times, the warrant states.
Police talked with 14 witnesses about the incident, and none of them saw the initial collision, the warrant says. They did tell police they saw Martin chasing Christopher, saw Martin pull in front of Christopher to cause the collision, and shot at Christopher, according to the warrant.
None of the witnesses said they heard Martin identify himself as an officer. They also said Martin was not in danger of being hit by Christopher's vehicle.
Martin's statement gives a different version of the story. He states that Christopher looked directly at him before driving into his lane and hitting the side of his car. Later, when he moved in front of Christopher's car, Martin said he had parked the car and then Christopher suddenly rammed into the back of his car with his pickup.
At this point, Martin said he got out and drew his weapon, and that his desire to identify himself was made moot at this point due to how quickly everything happened.
"I believe then, as I believe now, that the driver would have run over me had I not taken defensive action," Martin wrote in his statement. "The driver had already hit my car twice intentionally and nearly caused many other life-threatening accidents. I fired my weapon."
In a press release from Martin's attorney, P. Micheal Schneider, he argues a conclusion was formed as to Martin's guilt with evidence with accepted or ignored to fit that conclusion.
"From the moment it was leaked (by who?) that Officer Martin was involved in this investigation the department abandoned objective investigation in favor of political expediency," Schneider wrote. "This rush to judgment was exasperated by uninformed comments by local community activists and members of the city government who had neither the facts of this case or the true understanding of Officer Martin’s prior history."
In the wake of that incident, Martin was placed on restricted duty, police said. Per FWPD, that meant Martin had been reassigned to an administrative position with no police powers, and his gun and badge had been taken away.
On Friday, Fort Worth police said after completing its investigation, they found there was probable cause to charge Martin with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Tarrant County Jail, FWPD said in a news release. The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office told WFAA that Martin did a "jail walk-through" and is no longer in the Tarrant County Jail.
Martin has been placed on detached duty pending the completion of an Internal Affairs investigation, according to the Fort Worth police. The department told WFAA that Martin is still being paid but is not allowed to enter any police facility.
Fort Worth police said the investigation is ongoing.
Martin has been with FWPD for 19 years and was assigned to the Support Bureau at the time of the incident.
Martin was involved in the controversial arrest of Jacqueline Craig. Video of that arrest went viral and sparked outrage throughout the Fort Worth community.
Schneider argues in the statement published after Martin's arrest that Martin was completely exonerated by a panel of federal judges in the Jacqueline Craig case and that they found the video evidence "blatantly contradicted" testimony from the plaintiffs.
Martin was suspended for 10 days without pay following the incident. Craig sued the city for excessive force, but a federal appeals court eventually ruled that Martin had qualified immunity. The case was settled in 2022, with Craig being awarded $150,000.