Duo eying ‘fresh start’ accused of robbery

A Texas couple who reportedly moved to Spokane to kick their heroin addictions are in jail after police say they attacked a cell phone clerk and threatened to tie her up, then stole a phone and nearly $700.

Derrick D. Saldana, 27, and Jennifer R. Martinez, 29, are to be arraigned Wednesday on first-degree robbery and unlawful imprisonment charges related to an alleged assault April 10 at the Cricket cell phone store, 21 S. Thierman.

A woman working at the store said the couple asked if she should give them a new phone number with a San Antonio, Texas, area code, then attacked her after she opened the register to get change for $5. Saldana grabbed $672 from the register, then struggled with the clerk before Martinez threw her down and punched her in the head, according to court documents. Saldana then sat on the clerk’s back and tried to steal her wedding ring before the two fled.

The clerk suffered minor scrapes.

Two people told police that Saldana and Martinez were staying with them at 6321 E. Fourth in Spokane Valley after leaving Texas “to get a fresh start,” according to court documents.

But the couple began asking where to get drugs shortly after arriving in Spokane and said that morning that they were going to go shoplifting to get money for drugs, the witnesses told police. When Martinez returned with cash later that day, she said she’d stolen three purses and sold them for cash.

The couple was going to the Greyhound bus station to buy tickets back to Texas. Charges were filed April 28; they were arrested June 16.

Martinez and Saldana were booked into Spokane County Jail, where they remain on $60,000 and $50,000 bond, respectively.