By Lyda Longa
DAYTONA BEACH — A love triangle
involving three Daytona Beach policewomen ended with one of the officers jailed
on domestic violence related charges.
Officer Sarah Martin was placed
on suicide watch Saturday after Port Orange police said she stole her estranged
wife’s duty weapon and threatened to kill the spouse’s current love interest.
Martin was charged with written
threats to kill or injure, grand theft of a firearm and domestic battery/touch
strike, a Port Orange police report shows. She was released from the Volusia
County Branch Jail on Sunday after posting $11,000 bail. She could not be
reached for comment.
Police said during the fracas
at the home of Police Officer Tabitha Martin that Sarah Martin made death
threats toward Officer Kristina Cicero, who is dating Tabitha Martin.
It’s the second time in four
years that the 27-year-old Sarah Martin was charged in a domestic violence
incident. The first time was in 2010 when she was charged with battery, a
misdemeanor.
But this time, Sarah Martin has
been charged with two felony offenses. Sarah Martin was already fired from
Daytona Beach police once and rehired after a 2010 incident in Ormond Beach
with another former Daytona Beach policewoman.
After Saturday’s incident,
Sarah Martin was placed on paid administrative leave, Daytona Beach police
spokesman Jimmie Flynt said Monday. Sarah Martin has been with the agency since
2008, but was fired in 2010 after the Ormond Beach incident. Her dismissal was
for untruthfulness and misuse of a computer. She was re-hired in 2011 during
her grievance process — and before arbitration — after she agreed to take an
18-month suspension without pay.
The most recent arrest report
shows the episode began on Saturday just after 8 p.m. when Sarah Martin brought
the couple’s child home to Tabitha Martin’s residence after a visit.
Tabitha Martin told Port Orange
police that she and Sarah Martin — whom she said had been making suicidal
statements all week — had been married in another state and have a child
together, the report states.
Sarah Martin was with her
current girlfriend Ashley DiFormato when she brought the child home.
After the child was brought
back, Sarah Martin and DiFormato — a Volusia County sheriff’s dispatcher — left
Tabitha Martin’s home, the report states. But a few minutes later at 8:11 p.m.,
as Tabitha Martin was bathing the youngster, she received a text message from
DiFormato asking her to come outside the residence, the report states.
When Tabitha Martin walked out
of the bathroom she found Sarah Martin in the kitchen. Tabitha and Sarah Martin
then both went outside and began to argue, the report states.
Tabitha Martin told police that
Sarah Martin became “very upset” and threw a piece of mail at her chest, the
report states.
Sarah Martin then went back
into Tabitha Martin’s apartment and came back out with Tabitha Martin’s car
keys. Sarah Martin started the engine, police said, then the married couple
struggled over the car keys. Tabitha Martin got into her vehicle and turned off
the engine. She said Sarah Martin then pushed her back with both hands,
prompting Tabitha Martin to lose her footing, the report states.
Sarah Martin got out of the car
then stormed off. That’s when Tabitha Martin realized she had left her Daytona
Beach police Glock 23 handgun inside the residence, the report states. When she
went inside to retrieve the firearm, it was gone.
When Tabitha Martin rushed
outside to tell DiFormato what had happened, she looked at her cellphone and
Sarah Martin had just sent her a text message telling her that she should not
leave loaded guns lying around and that she was on her way to “kill that
(expletive deleted),” referring to Cicero, the report states.
Tabitha Martin telephoned
Cicero, warning her of Sarah Martin’s text message. Tabitha Martin and
DiFormato then began searching for Sarah Martin, according to the report.
As they drove around, both
women received text messages from Sarah Martin telling them that she would kill
Cicero and then herself, police said.
In one of the text messages,
Sarah Martin warned DiFormato against calling police because she would “regret
it,” the report states.
Sarah Martin also told
DiFormato that she loved her, but then wrote, “I have to go take care of a
(expletive deleted) and then you won’t see me anymore. I’m sorry.”
Cicero later told Port Orange
police that she armed herself with her personal handgun and “strategically
exited her residence given Sarah’s tactical training and being armed,” the
report states. Cicero also told Port Orange police that Sarah Martin had once
followed her home after work and threatened her physically, the report states.
Cicero also showed police a copy of threats that Sarah Martin had made toward
Cicero on Cicero’s Facebook page, according to the report.
Port Orange police found Sarah
Martin walking along South Williamson Boulevard and the I-95 overpass. Tabitha
Martin’s duty weapon in her shorts pocket, the report states.
