Case # 16WF0852
Date: April 27, 2016
WIFE, HUSBAND, AND HIS ILLINOIS POLICE OFFICER BROTHER ARRAIGNED FOR ASSAULTING AND STABBING TEENAGER PEDESTRIAN WALKING WITH FRIEND IN HUNTINGTON BEACH
WESTMINSTER, Calif. – A woman and her husband, and his police officer brother were arraigned today on charges of assault and battery for stabbing a teenage boy while he was out walking with his friend in Huntington Beach. Arthur Edward Roman, 28, Tinley Park, Illinois, his brother Martin Mario Roman, 26, and Martin’s wife Jessica Monique Roman, 28, both of Lake Forest, are charged with one felony count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and one misdemeanor count of battery. Martin is also charged with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, Arthur Roman and Jessica Roman each face a maximum sentence of four years in state prison, and Martin Roman faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.
Martin Roman and Jessica Roman are out of custody on $25,000 bail, and Arthur Roman is out of custody on $100,000 bail. The three defendants were arraigned today on the charges filed yesterday. They are scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on June 24, 2016, in Department W-12, West Justice Center, Westminster.
At approximately 4:15 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2016, 17-year-old John Doe 1 and his 31-year-old friend, John Doe 2, were walking down Third Street in Huntington Beach, and passed a parked car with the three defendants inside. Martin Roman is accused of being in the driver’s seat, and Jessica Roman is accused of being seated in the back. Arthur Roman, Martin’s brother from Illinois, who at the time of the crime was employed as an Oak Forest Police Department officer, was in the front passenger seat.
As the two pedestrian victims walked past the defendants’ vehicle, Arthur Roman is accused of yelling at the victims. Arthur Roman and Martin Roman are then accused of exiting the car and aggressively approaching the victims. Martin Roman is accused of pushing John Doe 2 and then wrapping his arm around John Doe 2’s neck. Arthur Roman is accused of pushing John Doe 1, who then tried to tackle the defendant. Arthur Roman is accused of punching John Doe 1, and Jessica Roman is accused of pushing John Doe 1 to the ground and kicking the victim in the head, while a male voice yelled, “Kick him!”
John Doe 2 pushed Martin Roman to the ground, who is accused of then getting up and taking out a knife. As John Doe 2 backed away, Martin Roman is accused of turning to John Doe 1, who was on the ground, covering his head. Martin Roman is accused of stabbing John Doe 1 two to three times in the buttocks. Jessica Roman is accused of yelling that the police were on their way, and the three defendants are accused of fleeing the scene in their car.
Witnesses called the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD), who arrived at the scene after the defendants fled. A short time later, the three defendants were apprehended and arrested in an alleyway nearby. HBPD investigated this case.
Deputy District Attorney Angela Hong of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.