San Gabriel man accused of shooting and killing a Pomona SWAT officer wanted to leave the Mongols motorcycle club

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A San Gabriel man accused of shooting and killing a Pomona SWAT officer in 2014 earlier had told two close friends he wanted to leave the Mongols motorcycle club, according to testimony Thursday in the man’s murder trial.

The two friends, Jorge Luna and Andrew Ruedas, testified in the second trial of David Martinez which is being held at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.

The prosecution pointed out that the two men testified to what Martinez told them but he didn’t quit the Mongols, still attended Mongols events and even joked and bantered with Mongols members in text messages and a phone call. The prosecution played audio of a call Martinez made from county jail where he talked to different Mongols members and showed text messages between him and other members.

Martinez has been charged with the second-degree murder of Officer Shaun Diamond and with assault with a firearm upon an officer. His first trial in 2019 ended in a hung jury.

Martinez has claimed that he thought the Pomona SWAT officers who were serving a search warrant in 2014 were fellow Mongols motorcycle club members trying to break into his parents’ home. He said in testimony this week that he saw the barrel of a gun pointing at his father and fired a 12-gauge shotgun to protect his family.

Martinez testified Tuesday that he didn’t see anyone and had fired the shotgun at the patch of dark sky he saw as the door opened. The defense called it a warning shot.

Diamond was shot in the back of the neck and Martinez’s father, Arturo, was struck in the arm on Oct. 28, 2014. Diamond, 45, died the next day at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.

At the time of the shooting, Martinez believed the police had also fired. But the prosecution pointed out during opening statements in April that none of the officers fired their weapons.

In Thursday’s testimony, Luna said that he has known Martinez for more than 25 years and thinks of him like a little brother. He said he found out Martinez was a Mongols member in the spring of 2013 after Martinez’s brother told him.

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