Clinton Township Police Don’t Allow Naked Arraignment

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — Tuesday was no ordinary day for Clinton Township police officials. A suspect in a home invasion — who is accused at shooting at the homeowner with a gun he allegedly stole from the house — was arraigned by video on a litany of felony charges. There was nothing strange about that; video arraignment is a common procedure. What was unusual is that authorities had to restrain the suspect in a chair and cover his naked body with a cloth.

Almondo C. Martin, 29, of Macomb Township, apparently stripped off his clothes and tried to escape prior to his video arraignment, which occurred in a public courtroom in Clinton Township’s 41-B District Court. Martin faces five felony charges — attempted murder, first-degree home invasion, larceny firearm, felony firearm, and resisting and obstructing a police officer, according to a news release.

He’s accused of breaking into a home on the 44500 block of Heydenreich Road, south of Hall Road, on Monday. Homeowner John Broderick surprised the intruder when he came home for lunch and found him inside wearing pajamas and slippers and holding a pair of Broderick’s sunglasses. Police said he had made himself at home, and even let Broderick’s dogs out for a bathroom break, The Macomb Daily reported.

Broderick asked a few questions, then went for his 9 mm pistol, which was missing from his hiding spot under a mattress, the Detroit Free Press reported. Figuring the intruder had it, Broderick took off. Martin allegedly fired several shots at him before Broderick made it safely to a neighbor’s house to make a 911 call.

Police Capt. Richard Maierle told the Free Press that when authorities arrived and found Martin in the back yard, he tried to convince them that the home was his residence, that he and his girlfriend had been asleep, and that Broderick had tried to shoot and kill him with a gun, but that he used his fifth-degree black belt moves to disarm him. Martin claimed he fired the gun to scare Broderick away, Maierle said.

Police had to deploy a Taser weapon to subdue Martin, Maierle said.

After he took off his clothes before his Tuesday arraignment, Martin managed to get out of his cell in the Clinton Township lockup, but police quickly brought him under control an placed him in the restraint chair. Magistrate Daniel Goulette ordered a psychiatric evaluation and a court-appointed attorney, then entered a not-guilty plea on Martin’s behalf and ordered him to appear for a preliminary exam on Oct. 31.

According to Maierle, Martin told police he had just been released from custody on a domestic violence charge.

Photo courtesy of Clinton Township police