ComPol Says He’s Unaware of Special Treatment of Accused Murderers
The first murder of 2024 happened early Sunday morning in Bella Vista Village and police charged two brothers a day later for that homicide. But while the arrests of siblings Cornelio and Ernesto Martinez were swift, there have been quite a few reports out of Bella Vista and Independence that one of the brothers charged has been intimidating people with his licensed firearm and also that the police reportedly gave them special treatment when they were detained. The family of the deceased has alleged that the police allowed the men’s relatives to accompany them to the police station. But today the Commissioner of Police said that he does not know about that allegation because no complaint of that nature has crossed his desk.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I don’t know about that and, no report has ever come to my desk in respect to Mr. Martinez behaving in such a way, in Independence. And this is the thing, you know, when something happens, you hear all kinds of stories. Why not report it when it is happening? As far as I am concerned, there was no report against him that would have warranted his firearm license being revoked. As a matter of fact, nothing came to me about him being a tyrant or behaving in any way disorderly within the village of Independence.”
Reporter
“We also received reports that after he was detained, he was given special treatment and that his family was there and they were all sitting around in the police station with him.”
Chester Williams
“I don’t know. I can’t manage every police station, right? I know after he was detained, I gave instructions to the police to go and search his home, see if you have any other firearm there. If you have any to take the firearm away, get him into police custody and do what needs to be done with him. As far as I’m concerned, he committed a crime, a very heinous one, and he should be punished to the full extent of the law. I cannot say the police gave him any special treatment. I was not there. I will have to wait and see.”
