On Thursday, a 20-year-old Stop & Shop worker with autism was assaulted for the second time in just six months, with his family slamming his attackers with a long rap sheet for “the same thing over and over again.”
The employee, whose name has not been released, was assaulted by 62-year-old Alvin Martinez in the same Rockaway Park store parking lot where he was beaten by the repeat offender just six months earlier.
“[What happened] This should shock all of us, every parent, anyone who has a loved one,” the victim’s family told the Post. “And it’s always criminals who have an extensive history, a history of violence. [doing] repeating the same thing over and over again. ”
“An innocent person, a vulnerable person, is treated like this,” they lamented.
Martinez, who was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree robbery, has a rap sheet dating back to 1982, which includes charges of criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a controlled substance, petty larceny, and grand larceny. Contains the past.
Before Thursday night, his most recent arrest was in 2006.
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 store’s butcher, who saw what was happening, intervened and saved the young man.
“This is just an innocent person. This is the second time our son has been attacked. He is a hard-working 20-year-old with autism who is trying to make it in the world,” the victim said. family told the Post.
Witness Thomas Willis told the Post that workers were cleaning up shopping carts when Martinez attacked them.
“I looked away for a second and when I turned around he grabbed the kid, grabbed the headphones over his head and started banging his own headphones.” [own] It’s a hat,” recalled Willis, who was campaigning for state House candidate Tom Sullivan in the parking lot.
“He’s blocking the kid, he’s pushing the kid, he’s not trying to get past him. He’s screaming and cursing at this kid,” he said of Martinez’s actions.
The scuffle lasted about 40 seconds, but the young worker managed to escape. He then retrieved his hat and headphones and reported the incident to his manager, Willis added.
“It’s very upsetting,” Willis said. “It wasn’t even sunset yet. If it can happen in front of several witnesses in a Rockaway Beach parking lot, it can really happen anywhere in the city.”
Joshua, a daytime “wagon boy” at Stop & Shop, called the attack “unbelievable.”
“Why should people do something? [the victim]?He’s just trying to do his job,” he told the Post.?
“I have an autistic son, so I’m sure he would be furious.” [if this happened to him]” another Stop & Shop employee chimed in.
Rosat Langopal, a volunteer with the Sullivan campaign, told the newspaper that Martinez tried to resist police when they arrived.
“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,” Rangopal said.
Rangopal said there were as many as 10 to 15 police officers at the scene at one point.
Willis and Langopal said Martinez had been wandering around the parking lot for at least an hour before the attack, claiming he couldn’t unlock his car.
“He had an old car and it looked like he was living in it,” Rangopal said.
“He was trying to pry open car doors with screwdrivers and brooms and all kinds of things. He was pretty belligerent and crazy and was talking about fighting people with cages and punching people. ” Willis pointed out.
They lamented that persistent injustices make even familiar places dangerous for vulnerable people.
“It’s very sad to look at the state, or even our city and state, at this point,” Willis said.
“The man was clearly not feeling well, so I wouldn’t want him to be in a parking lot where his family was just going about their business. It’s not a particularly safe environment,” Langopal agreed.
