Police killing of immigrant challenged

[Niels Bohr 72]

By John R. Ellement and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | July 29, 2008

YARMOUTH - As outraged family members denounced the use of deadly force and as fear reverberated through Cape Cod's Brazilian community, investigators reviewed yesterday the frantic moments of an early-morning traffic stop, trying to determine whether a Yarmouth police officer was justified in killing an undocumented house painter from Brazil.

Andre L. Martins, 25, was killed by a single gunshot to the heart and lungs after fleeing Officer Christopher Van Ness at about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe. Van Ness opened fire after Martins, his car apparently boxed in on a neighborhood lawn, rammed the cruiser in an attempt to flee, O'Keefe said.

With new details yesterday came even more questions, and authorities said they needed time to untangle the events and cautioned against quick judgments.

"We don't jump to conclusions," O'Keefe said in a telephone interview. "We have an investigation, and we allow that investigation to be completed."

Camila Campos, Martins's girlfriend and the mother of his 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, was in the passenger seat at the time of the shooting and was not harmed, O'Keefe said.

Campos, 25, said she avoided being shot by ducking in the car. She told the Brazilian newspaper Folha Online yesterday: "The police officer who blocked the street got out of the car, appeared in the open window, and started to shoot." He fired three times, she said.

Campos consulted a lawyer yesterday and said she would take legal action.

"He didn't have any time to defend himself," she told Folha Online. "The officer who shot at Andre acted wrongly. He should have shot at the tires."

Last night at her home in Yarmouth, Campos held up the couple's 2-year-old boy and said, "See what they took away. My son didn't deserve to have his father taken away."

Van Ness, 34, a three-year veteran of the Police Department who previously served in the Harwich Police Department, was placed on administrative leave with pay yesterday. O'Keefe said Van Ness was an "exemplary officer" who was upset about the tragedy.

Martins's father, Luiz Carlos de Castro Martins, a reserve police officer in Brazil, told Folha that his son may have been afraid to stop because he was not in the United States legally. Court records indicate that Martins's work visa had expired, although O'Keefe declined to comment on Martins's immigration status.

"They have to think before they act, to be more cautious," de Castro Martins said. "I know that the situation is difficult, but you can't simply shoot at someone."

One of Martins's friends, Alex Kovalski, said he had talked to Martins Friday after the Yarmouth man was arrested by Barnstable police on charges of driving without a license and driving to endanger. According to court records, officers on bicycles had spotted Martins driving recklessly through heavy traffic and causing several cars to brake suddenly.

Kovalski said Martins was terrified of being arrested again and deported to Brazil.

"He was so afraid," he said. "He was so scared of getting taken away."

Registry records show that Martins was not licensed to drive in Massachusetts. His application was denied in 2005 because he had problems with his driving record in New York, including driving while uninsured and failing to report for a hearing.

Barnstable court records show that Martins had three criminal cases scheduled to go to court next month. In July 2007, he was charged with threatening to commit murder, operating a motor vehicle without a license, and leaving the scene of an auto accident.

Those charges were filed after police said Martins rammed Campos's car in a bank parking lot and drove off. At the time, Campos told police that Martins had recently broken off their relationship and called her on her cellphone, threatening to kill her.

"I know I was wrong," Martins later told Yarmouth police, according to court records. "I shouldn't have done it. I just got so mad when I saw my girlfriend in the mall with another guy, I hit her car. I shouldn't have hit it, but I was so mad, I just hit it hard."

In June, Yarmouth police said they stopped Martins for running a red light. During the stop, Martins gave the officer a Brazilian driver's license and was arrested on a charge of operating with a suspended license.

Sunday's chase began when Van Ness saw a dark car allegedly speeding from the Bayview Beach parking lot near the Yarmouth/Hyannis line. Van Ness pursued the car, catching up with Martins's black Lincoln Continental on Harbor Road, O'Keefe said.

Van Ness drove behind the Lincoln, which sped off, reaching speeds that witnesses later estimated at 80 to 90 miles per hour, O'Keefe said.

Van Ness turned on his flashing blue lights as Martins turned onto Baxter Avenue and allegedly headed toward several police cruisers parked at the end of the street that were blocking the entrance to Route 28.

He turned left into a yard, attempted to make a U-turn, and struck Van Ness's cruiser, O'Keefe said. It was not clear whether Van Ness was inside, O'Keefe added.

At some point in the encounter, Van Ness got out of his cruiser and fired multiple shots, killing Martins. Paramedics found a marijuana cigarette in Martins's mouth, O'Keefe said. Police did not find any firearms in his car.

Martins's friends described him as a doting father.

"He was a great guy, very nice and very dedicated to his kids," said Cristina Rivera, a former neighbor. "He had a dirt bike and would take his kids on rides around the yard. And when the kids had birthdays, he would throw these huge parties."

Yesterday at Intercontinental, a Brazilian market in Hyannis, a flier on the door demanded justice for Martins. Campos had stopped by the store earlier, weeping and asking for help, and the owner was collecting money to send Martins's body to Brazil for burial.

Fausto da Rocha, executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, said many immigrants are worried that Van Ness will not be held accountable because Martins was an illegal immigrant.

"A lot of people in the community are upset and sad for what happened because these people came to the United States trying to build a better life," da Rocha said yesterday. "Now, more and more people are going to be afraid when the police stop them, that they can be shot."

Brian Ballou of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

"He didn't have any time to defend himself," she told Folha Online. "The officer who shot at Andre acted wrongly. He should have shot at the tires."

how idiotic

[Steve Y Jessica 1]

It does not sound right to me! H ewas clearely an unstable person. And I doubt the wifes account of the police officer walking over to the car window and started shooting. It sounds like she is setting up a case to get money.

[Heracles 417]

"A lot of people in the community are upset and sad for what happened because these people came to the United States trying to build a better life," da Rocha said yesterday. "Now, more and more people are going to be afraid when the police stop them, that they can be shot."

Give me a break.

[peejay 327]

One of Martins's friends, Alex Kovalski, said he had talked to Martins Friday after the Yarmouth man was arrested by Barnstable police on charges of driving without a license and driving to endanger. According to court records, officers on bicycles had spotted Martins driving recklessly through heavy traffic and causing several cars to brake suddenly.

Kovalski said Martins was terrified of being arrested again and deported to Brazil.

These cities with illegal alien sanctuary policies that forbid their police officers to inquire about the immigration status of prisoners in custody are to blame. Why wasn't this guy detained and deported after the first arrest? Why are illegal aliens arrested and released in too many cities across America to continue their criminality when they should have been deported from the get go? How stupid! The cops aren't to blame...it's the moronic liberal politicians that bow down and cater to to the illegal alien cheerleaders that are to blame.