INDIANAPOLIS — A Greencastle man has been arrested and charged after allegedly attacking the owners and employees of a west Indianapolis taco truck.
Chad Martin, from Greencastle, is charged with three felonies, including burglary with a deadly weapon, armed robbery and battery with a deadly weapon in addition to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
According to recently released court documents, on Friday, April 26 around 1 a.m., IMPD officers responded to a taco truck in the 6300 block of West 34th Street on a report of a disturbance.
When officers arrived, they spoke with one of the employees of the taco truck, who told them a man, later identified as Martin, had approached the truck and declared he owned the vehicles parked next to the truck. The owner, his wife and the employees did not know Martin, and decided to ignore him.
Court documents say the employee then told police that Martin eventually breached the food truck by forcing the doors open. Martin then allegedly pulled out a pocket knife and pointed it at employees before allegedly picked up a knife from the food prep area of the truck and throwing it at the owner.
The knife reportedly hit the owner in the hip, leaving a small puncture wound. Court documents then say Martin then took the owner's wife's iPhone and threw it to the ground, shattering its backside. The police report says the iPhone suffered $100 worth of damages.
Martin then took a set of keys from underneath the food prep area and ran off, according to court documents. The keys reportedly contained keys to a pickup truck, a white Ford van, the food truck, the owner's house and a spare key to a relative's house.
RELATED: 'I can really make you hurt' | Indianapolis landlord arrested for allegedly assaulting tenant
Court documents say Martin sped off in a silver Audi heading eastbound toward High School Road. The taco truck employees told police that they did not pursue Martin because they saw a pistol was tucked into the waistband of his pants.
However, court documents also say that a taco truck employee threw a traffic cone at Martin while he was running away, causing him to stumble. The gun fell out of his waistband and was revealed to be a BB gun.
The owner of the taco truck reportedly declined medical attention for his wound, but reiterated what the employee had already told police.
Later, the taco truck owner read about Martin's arrest for carjacking and murder. Online court records show Martin was charged May 2, less than a week after the alleged robbery, for murder and carjacking.
Martin was identified by the taco truck employees using a photo array. His initial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9 and his pretrial conference is scheduled for Nov. 18.
