Cop Arrested for 4th Time in 4 Months

A Connecticut cop is in hot water, again, racking up yet another arrest for domestic violence-related incidents. Brian Wright, chief of the New London Police Department, says Officer Julio Gil-Martinez was arrested by another law-enforcement agency on Wednesday, the fourth arrest to Gil-Martinez's name in about as many months, report NBC News and WTNH. Court records indicate the 29-year-old violated a protective order in this latest incident, a felony.

It wasn't Gil-Martinez's first detention, however: The Hartford Courant traces his rap sheet back to November, when he was hit with assault, unlawful restraint, and other charges, with his alleged victim claiming he'd "covered her nose and mouth during the incident and that she thought she was going to die," according to court records. Gil-Martinez was arrested again in January, for violating a protective order emerging out of the alleged November incident, and then again on St. Patrick's Day, after the woman said he showed up at a home where she was providing home care services to a client, spied on her, and yanked her phone away.

The woman told police that Gil-Martinez, who was arrested for violating a protective order and for stalking following the March 17 incident, has also popped up at bars and eateries that she frequents. The protective order prohibits him from coming within 100 yards of the alleged victim. Gil-Martinez has been on paid administrative leave from the police department since the November arrest.

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"This situation is a tragedy that impacts not only those directly involved but also our entire community," Wright says in a statement. "It is concerning that an individual who is charged with upholding the law and protecting a community has demonstrated a lack of respect for the systems that are set up to ensure the safety of those he has taken a sworn oath to protect," says Meghan Scanlon, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, per the Courant. Gil-Martinez is next due in court on June 4. His bond has been set at $100,000; as of Thursday, records show he hadn't posted that bond. (More police officer stories.)