Martin claimed from the beginning that the owner of the barber shop and others had attacked him after he made an off-color remark to the owner’s wife at the shop where he washed windows. He said he lost control of the car and drove up on the sidewalk after one of the people involved in attacking him smashed his car window while he was trying to get away.

Records show Martin was the one who made the 911 call to police and Martin was the only person injured in the incident.

In depositions from the criminal case, shared with the Post-Dispatch by Martin, the shop owner and his wife alleged Martin revved his car engine and intentionally went after them with the car. The pair claimed a third witness, a patron at the shop, was hurt and had to run to steer clear of the car. That witness, however, said she was never harmed, limped because of polio as a child, and had remained in the doorway of the shop. She said it appeared to her Martin was scared and trying to get away.

Martin said Friday there are others who were unfairly committed to St. Louis Psychiatric Hospital by the courts and remain there indefinitely, but they don’t have the intelligence and “are not educated with the law” to pursue their freedom.