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Cops Searching For Perps Keep Visiting Brooklyn Seniors
By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 18, 2010
Modified Mar 18, 2010
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 18, 2010
Modified Mar 18, 2010
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For some reason, police seem to think that 83-year-old Walter Martin and his 82-year-old wife Rose are up to no good. Officers have been dispatched to the couple's Marine Park home at least 50 times in the past eight years in search of perps including a robbery suspect, an alleged murderer, and a cop accused of raping his stepdaughter. It's not entirely clear why cops keep visiting the Martins, but the Brooklyn seniors told the Daily News they've had enough. "I am fearful that if a no-knock warrant is issued with my address that my husband or I will end up having a heart attack," Rose wrote in a letter to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Officers from precincts as far away as the Bronx and Staten Island have knocked on the Martins' door looking for suspects and witnesses. And in almost every case, police have been trying to find a different person. "I'm really worried," said Rose. "How could so many people get my address and how could cops be coming from so many different precincts?" The couple says the incidents are bad for their health. Officers startled Walter when they knocked on his door at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, leaving him feeling dizzy. "[My blood pressure] finally went down to normal after about three hours," he said.
The police visits started in 2002 after the Martins began receiving junk mail, court documents, and arrest warrants addressed to strangers. They've continued ever since, despite the Martins' attempts to clear things up. An NYPD spokesman said the department's identity theft squad is investigating the visits, while officers at the 61st Precinct said they might have something to do with a computer glitch. A computer search of the address reveals 15 people who claim to live there—none of whom the Martins know, according to the tabloid.
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