An ex-con who allegedly attacked a 20-year-old autistic employee in a Queens Stop & Shop parking lot was released without bail Saturday, leaving the victim’s family furious.
Alvin Martinez, 62, was granted a non-monetary release despite pleas from the Queens district attorney to set bail for the alleged attacker.
“This is another example of our revolving door justice system working in favor of violent criminals while innocent people suffer,” a family member of the victim, who did not wish to be named, told the Post.
Martinez allegedly targeted a disabled employee outside the Rockaway Park store on Thursday, marking the second time in just six months that an employee had been assaulted by a violent stranger. became.
Martinez has a rap sheet dating back to 1982, which includes prior convictions for criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a controlled substance, petty larceny, and grand larceny.
Martinez, whose rap sheet dates back to 1982, was charged with various charges including attempted robbery, assault, menacing, harassment and criminal possession of stolen property.
Judge Germaine August, who worked as a legal aid lawyer for nearly 30 years, released the career criminal with only an order of protection in place with the alleged victim.
“The judge is going against the requests of the public prosecutor’s office and the legal wishes of the victims,” the employee’s family said in outrage.
The Queens Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Martinez allegedly jumped at an employee who was cleaning up a shopping cart, and witnesses said Martinez ripped off the man’s headphones and then hit him with his own hat.
“He blocks the kid, he pushes the kid, he won’t let him pass. He’s screaming at this kid, he’s swearing at this kid,” said Thomas Willis, who was campaigning for state representative candidate Tom Sullivan. he recalled to the Post.
The scuffle lasted about 40 seconds before the young worker ran away, but Martinez allegedly tried to resist when police arrived on the scene.
“Once authorities arrived at the scene, [Martinez] I decided to run for office, but that would be foolish. The police then chased him in the parking lot and caught him,” said Rosat Langopal, a fellow Sullivan activist.
Last December, a store employee with the same disability was cornered in the parking lot by a shoplifter who ran out of the store, and was punched and beaten. The shop’s butcher noticed the situation and intervened, saving the young man.
The brave employee returned to work, only to encounter another eccentric suspect who witnesses said had been wandering the premises for at least an hour before the attack.
Martinez allegedly used a screwdriver and a broomstick to break into the dilapidated car, screaming that he was going to “fight in the cage and beat people” while claiming he couldn’t unlock it.
“The man was clearly not feeling well, so we don’t want him in a parking lot where his family is running errands. It’s not a particularly safe environment,” Langopal said.
Records show Martinez had a long list of criminal convictions spanning the past 10 years, but had not been arrested since 2006.
His rap sheet includes prior convictions for criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a controlled substance, petty larceny, and grand larceny.
Martinez is scheduled to return to court on July 3.
