Man threatened a Walmart worker with a pellet gun in 2018 incident, police say. He’s now in jail

A prevention officer at the Kennewick Walmart said a man shoved shirts into a backpack, so the officer waited for the suspected thief to approach the exit.

The officer met Roberto Johnny Martinez, 26, at the door and asked for his receipt.

Martinez had other ideas. He pulled out what appeared to be a gun, and told the officer to step back.

After stepping out of Martinez’s way, the Walmart employee called police.

That October 2018 confrontation started a chase through south Kennewick that allegedly involved Martinez hiding under a blanket and trying to force his way into a semi truck.

Martinez was arrested last week after he was recently charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the October 2018 chase.

More details of that 2018 incident have been released by authorities now that Martinez is in jail.

According to court documents, once Martinez ran from Walmart, it didn’t take long for him to turn up again.

Authorities say he later showed up at a nearby Circle K store. An employee there walked out to his vehicle and found the wanted man hiding under a blanket in the trunk.

The employee told him to get out of the vehicle or he was going to call police. Martinez tried to claim someone was trying to kill him, documents indicate. When he went into the store, the employee told him to leave.

Martinez then went back to Highway 395, where he found a semi driver stopped at a traffic light.

“(The driver) then observed a male run down the hill from the area of Walmart and saw him conceal something in a bush,” Deputy Prosecutor Julie K. Long wrote.

Martinez then tried to jump onto the side of the semi. He banged on the window and yelled at the driver to let him in. When the driver didn’t, Martinez ran away.

When officers searched the bush, they found a pellet gun, according to court records.

Martinez is being held in the Benton County jail on $20,000 bail.