Crime & Safety
Five-Time Domestic Assault Convict Faces Second Charge in a Month
Police say they found the Hopkins resident in a Richfield motel with his wife, who has a protection order against him following an August assault charge.
A Hopkins man convicted of five domestic assault offenses in the past 10 years—and charged with a sixth in August—has been charged with violating a protection order after police found him holed up in a Richfield hotel room with the same woman he’s accused of assaulting in the most recent incident.
Ralph Fitzgerald Martin, 48, faces a felony charge of violating an order for protection, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
According to the latest criminal complaint, signed by Detective Eric Lammle, police went to the Richfield Motel 6 with an arrest warrant for Martin on Aug. 26.
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When they knocked on Martin’s door, he answered and identified himself. Police spotted Martin’s wife—who has a protection order against Martin—inside the room.
The protection order prohibits Martin from having any contact, either direct or indirect, with her.
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Martin’s criminal history includes two convictions for domestic assault in 2003 and another in 2004, a fifth-degree assault conviction in 2004 and a conviction in 2005 for violating a no-contact order.
Last month, after his wife told police that he slapped her in the face and dragged her across his apartment by her hair after he’d been drinking.
Martin has been released from custody on a $10,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Sept. 24 in Hennepin County District Court.
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