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Copyright © 2015 Albuquerque Journal

Until recently, Thomas Martinez’s lengthy criminal history consisted mostly of traffic violations, drug possession and failure to appear in court.

But he made a major criminal leap this month, police say, and on Thursday federal agents charged him as being one of the “worst of the worst” following his arrest in connection with a wild carjacking spree on Wednesday.

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Police tracked Martinez, 26, to a hotel at noon Wednesday several hours after they say Martinez carjacked a man at a hotel. They say he fled from them with a gun in hand, carjacked a woman and shot at her as she jumped out of her car, then carjacked an elderly man and tried to shoot at him before he crashed the car to avoid a driver who had blocked his way.

At the time, Martinez was wanted on a warrant for robbing – at gunpoint – three men who were selling him guns. He also was out on bail after running from police and hiding in a stranger’s home, terrifying three children there.

Police say they’re frustrated at the pattern of “catch and release” they have had with Martinez.

“We can totally control the catch part, we don’t control the release part,” said Albuquerque police spokesman Simon Drobik. “Our officers are trained to deal with this, but do the citizens deserve the guy walking around?”

In the last seven years, Martinez has been in and out of jail 12 times, two of those times since June.

Here is a rundown of Martinez’s criminal history, according to court documents and police:

In 2008, age 19, Martinez speeds away after he sees a police officer. He is pulled over for the suspicious behavior and is found to have more than one-half pound of marijuana intended for trafficking. He pleads guilty and is put on probation for one year. He is caught with drug paraphernalia in February 2010 and goes to jail for 10 days, then is released back to probation.

For the next six years, Martinez is not arrested for any crime, though he collects seven driving violations, including having windows that are too dark, driving without insurance, not having a proper registration sticker on his license plate.

For each of these cases he either fails to appear in court or fails to pay fines, resulting in a suspension of his license and six bench warrants, which is when a judge orders a person to be arrested. He is arrested several times on these warrants, out on bail or bond less than $500 and paying fines each time.

His bond in a January 2014 episode reaches $500 – for failing to appear for driving on a suspended license, driving without a license plate and not having proof of insurance.

Drug charges

By July 2014, Martinez begins to get charged with drug offenses.

He is pulled over for driving a truck hauling a trailer that does not have a license plate. Police turn up two pounds of marijuana and a few Oxycodone and Hydrocodone pills intended for distribution.

Martinez, charged with unlawful possession of dangerous prescription drugs and trafficking controlled substances, posts a portion of $2,500 bond three days after he is arrested.

The case lingered in court and was dismissed “due to insufficient time to complete chemical testing,” but status of that case wasn’t known Thursday.

In November 2014, Martinez is arrested in Bernalillo and police say he had drugs with him then, though details of this case were not available Thursday.

He bonds out of jail on a portion of $1,000 bond, but he fails to show up for court and a warrant for his arrest is issued.

Last month, Martinez starts to collect his first violent charges.

The Bernalillo warrant is active June 17 when an officer at the Wal-Mart on Eubank and Copper accuses Martinez of shoplifting $125 in merchandise, prompting a foot chase across a busy road, behind a fast food restaurant and into a random home with three terrified children inside.

Police say he jumped a backyard fence and pushed the back door open against the 15-year-old girl trying to lock it, knocking her back against the wall hard enough to take her breath away and violently enough to traumatize a 9- and 11-year-old in the home.

Martinez was arrested in the home’s garage and charged with aggravated burglary and three counts of child abuse and taken in on the open warrant.

He pays $500 cash bond and is out of jail the next day, promising to participate in the court’s pretrial supervision.

But he doesn’t show up on June 26, and a warrant is put out for his arrest.

Martinez is re-arrested on July 6, booked in jail and given another $500 bond, which he posts July 7 with the same conditions of release.

On July 17, police say Martinez and two friends committed three ambushes in one night to steal guns.

Police say Martinez and his friends tricked three men into meeting them in different parking lots around town in order to buy guns that the men had advertised for sale online. Private sales like this are legal.

Within the span of three hours in the evening July 17, police allege Martinez and his friends stole two handguns, an AK-47 and cash.

Police put out a warrant for Martinez and the two men.

Carjacking spree

Martinez was wanted on this warrant when police used a tip to track him down to a hotel near the Target on Eubank and Lomas at about noon Wednesday after they say he carjacked a man at a hotel on University and Menaul at 9 a.m.

This prompted the carjacking spree that federal authorities are saying earns Martinez a place in the “worst of the worst” prosecution program targeting repeat offenders.

Police say Martinez, with a gun in hand, fled from officers at the hotel, “violently carjacked” an elderly woman stopped at an on-ramp and ran over an officer who tried to rescue that woman.

Federal charging documents released Thursday say Martinez shot at the woman, who later jumped out of the car uninjured.

Martinez, police say, ditched her car, then carjacked another vehicle with an elderly male passenger inside. The federal charging document and police say Martinez tried to shoot at a family member who tried to rescue the man and at one point the elderly man had his hand on the gun, keeping Martinez from firing.

Martinez was stopped, police say, when a driver blocked the road with his own vehicle, forcing Martinez to crash and the relative was able to get the gun.

Martinez now faces two federal counts each of carjacking and firearms violations.

He is in jail on no hold bond.