Raton man charged for brick assault on postman, who was seriously injured

SANTA FE, N.M. — A Raton man who maintained federal agents were following him faces a federal charge for striking a mail carrier in the head with a brick last month, resulting in serious injuries for the postman that included severed vertebrae and paralysis of the left side of his body.

Cody Martinez, 29, of Raton, is charged with assaulting a federal employee. At a court hearing in Albuquerque Tuesday, he was ordered detained behind bars pending trial. Martinez is accused of assaulting U.S. Postal Service mail carrier David Boyer as Boyer was making his rounds on Jan. 20.

According to a postal inspector’s criminal complaint, a woman who lives on Raton’s North Second Street said she heard noise outside and saw a man later identified as Martinez taking mail from her mailbox. Martinez then came into her yard and started yelling at her through a window, took off his jacket and picked up a brick. Martinez walked to Boyer, the mailman, on the other side of street and knocked him out with a blow to the head, said the witness, who called 911. Another resident saw a man waving a brick and then hit the mailman. Read more