They crammed in a Baltimore town house to mourn the death of their friend and loved one, Antonio Martinez, a hard-working Mexican immigrant who police say was killed by an off-duty officer in a hit-and-run crash.
As women cried, about 50 friends and family members of Martinez, 28, said they couldn?t believe a man simply driving to work could be killed by an officer of the law.
“I?m angry,” said Brenda Martinez, 14, Antonio?s niece. “If the police hadn?t left the scene, he would still be alive.”
Authorities arrested an unidentified Anne Arundel police officer in connection with the fatal crash on Interstate 95 near Aberdeen on Monday.
The officer was driving a gray Nissan truck around 6 a.m. when he rear-ended a Ford Explorer with Texas license plates, causing the Explorer to spin out, flip over the guardrail and land on the inside shoulder of southbound I-95, according to police. The officer then fled the scene, police said.
State police tracked down the officer after discovering a license plate that fell off his vehicle during the crash.
Martinez, of Gwynn Oak, was pronounced dead at the scene. Passengers Jaime Martinez Salas, 35, and Jose Enrique Ramos Olvera, 19, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Martinez leaves behind his wife, Nomi, and their 2-year-old daughter, Josselin.
“It?s difficult to understand,” said Manuel Ordonez, 30, Martinez?s friend of two years. “He was a police officer, and the police are not giving us the full information about what happened.”
Authorities continue to refuse to release the officer?s name because he has not been formally charged.
He has been placed on paid administrative duty and stripped of law enforcement powers.
Friends and family said Martinez was driving to his job as a construction worker in Pennsylvania.
“I?m feeling really bad right now,” said friend Juan Coreas, 38. “I was just talking to him on Saturday. He was a real nice guy. He was a very hard worker. Every morning, he woke up early to drive to work in Pennsylvania. Every evening he was working late.”
Maryland State Police are conducting an investigation into the crash, the results of which they will turn over to Harford County State?s Attorney Joseph Cassilly, who said he hadn?t made any decision about charges.
“We have to wait for any chemical or medical tests to come back before we make a determination,” he said.
Examiner Staff Writer Matt Santoni contributed to this report.
