Man Beat Woman On Nassau Street Without Provocation: Police

An East Meadow man was arrested Tuesday after police say he attacked a woman without provocation and beat her in front of her daughter, and later attacked police officers.

According to police, a 36-year-old woman was driving her Chrysler Town and Country west on Hempstead Turnpike when a man threw a large rock at her car, damaging the hood and the front passenger-side headlight. The woman pulled over to question the man, and then started to call police. As she was on the phone with a 911 operator, police say the man punched her in the face.

The woman fell to the ground, and the man took her cell phone, then punched her in the face again, causing her to lose consciousness. The woman came to and tried to get up, but the man kept punching her in the face.

A group of people nearby began yelling at the man, and he fled. The woman got up and went to her car to make sure her daughter, who was sitting in the back, was safe.

The woman suffered a leg injury, a bloody nose, multiple cuts to her head and face and many lumps and bruises to her forehead. She was taken to a hospital for treatment, where doctors discovered she also had a concussion.

Police later located a man who fit the description of the attacker. Police began to question the man, James Martins, 34, of Kenmore Street, East Meadow, when they say he became uncooperative and refused to comply with the officer's commands. Martins grabbed the shirt of one of the officers, police say, and tore off his badge. He then punched the officer in the face, police said.

Police say Martins continued to resist arrest until he was subdued. A 49-year-old man who was nearby helped police hold Martins until he was handcuffed. Police say the officer Martins attacked suffered a head injury and was taken to a hospital.

Martins is charged with second-degree robbery, second- and third-degree assault, two counts of third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest and unlawful possession of marijuana. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in First District Court in Hempstead.

Photo courtesy Nassau County Police Department