MI resident charged with assault, robbery and criminal trespass

Published 4:55 pm Wednesday, April 1, 2026

A 25-year-old Mercer Island resident was recently charged with second-degree assault, first-degree robbery and first-degree criminal trespass following an incident at a Mercer Island apartment complex, according to King County Superior Court documents.

Michael Alexander Martinez is currently being held in custody on $100,000 bail at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. Charging papers were filed on March 10, accusing Martinez of the crimes. His next court hearing date is slated for June 29.

Court documents state that on March 5, Martinez is accused of attacking a 76-year-old woman with a knife in the apartment building where they both reside. Four Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) officers were dispatched to the scene at approximately 8:24 p.m. and were informed that after the attack, Martinez was inside the victim’s apartment unit stealing items as the victim fled to the reporting party’s unit for safety.

“The facts of this case are terrifying,” according to Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ian Michels-Slettvet in court documents, adding that Martinez approached the victim right outside her front door and demanded her keys. Upon refusal, he slashed the victim’s face with a knife, knocked her to the ground, took the victim’s keys and unlawfully entered her apartment, the case summary reads.

Michels-Slettvet’s case summary adds that when police arrested Martinez, he admitted to what was done. Officers later located the knife in Martinez’s unit that he said he used in the attack, according to documents.

An MIPD detective’s certification for determination of probable cause reads that the victim knew Martinez as her downstairs neighbor. After Martinez didn’t respond to the officers’ verbal commands from outside the victim’s unit, they went downstairs to retrieve defense technology and observed Martinez exiting his unit. An officer gave verbal commands and Martinez, who was visibly distraught and agitated,was arrested without incident. The victim, who was transported to Overlake Medical Hospital, positively identified him as the assailant.

After police read Martinez his Miranda rights, he stated that during his four years at the apartment complex, the victim and another resident had been terrorizing and torturing him, and that people had moved the icons around on his computer when he was gone or asleep, according to documents. He stated that he tried to confront the residents in the units about this to get them to stop by banging on their doors, but they never answered.

After he arrived home from work on March 5, according to documents, he noticed that his computer icons were moved around again, and that “set him off,” and he went to confront the victim.

Documents read that the state was not aware of any previous conviction history for Martinez. An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) petition filed on March 5 notes that Martinez purchased a firearm and was waiting on a background check to be complete.

The case summary adds: “The ERPO petitioner notes that defendant has a history of mental issues, has a history of suicide attempts, and recently stopped taking his psychiatric medication. The State is concerned that the defendant will commit further acts of violence against the victim if he’s released from custody.”

A March 26 order for felony competency restoration treatment reads that Martinez shall be placed in the custody of the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to undergo evaluation and treatment.