MADERA COUNTY – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol are conducting a joint investigation of what deputies says was attempted murder.
The alleged murder attempt was followed by a pursuit, during which a CHP officer’s car was rammed by the fleeing suspect.
The suspect, Leobardo Martinez, 24, reportedly threatened to kill his 31-year-old brother-in-law in an orchard, and stabbed him in the neck.
Martinez then fled the area in the victim’s car, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies who were called out to the scene – located on 145 near Avenue 9 – spotted the victim’s vehicle, and initially started to follow the car, hoping to pull the driver over.
Martinez refused to yield, and when CHP officers took over the pursuit, the suspect rammed a CHP car before crashing into yet another car on Highway 145 just north of Avenue 12.
The suspect, who suffered minor injuries in the crash, will be booked into Madera County Department of Corrections, once he has been medically cleared.
Martinez faces a multitude of felony charges, including assault on a peace officer, attempted murder and vehicle theft.
The stabbing victim is expected to recover from injuries he sustained.
