Ex-boyfriend suspect in assault of Joplin woman for third time in a month

Aug. 14—A 26-year-old man wanted for assaulting his former girlfriend for a second time in two weeks on July 27 remains at large after a report he attacked her for a third time this past weekend.

Joplin police say Gabriel Z. Martin, of Neosho, assaulted Tara L. Fleming, 29, Saturday afternoon at her residence on East Sixth Street, slapping, punching and choking her for a third time in a month.

Fleming, who was left with visible bruising, contacted police after Martin left her home. He was later spotted by a Duquesne police officer but fled and managed to avoid arrest, according to Joplin police.

At the time, Martin had warrants out for his arrest stemming from prior assaults of Fleming on July 18 and July 27.

Court records alleged that he was arrested after hitting Fleming multiple times on July 18 and threatening her with a hammer. He posted a $2,500 bond on July 26 and was released.

The following day he entered her residence while she was showering and began tearing her place up, according to the second of two probable-cause affidavits filed on him. She confronted him as she got out of the shower, and he allegedly responded by punching her in the abdomen and legs and attempting to smother her with a pillow.

When he retrieved a shotgun from his vehicle and began menacing her with it, she fled her home in a state of undress and sought help from a neighbor. Police told the Globe at the time that Martin was located near Seventh Street and Schifferdecker Avenue and taken into custody.

But court records do not show that the arrest warrant issued July 28 carrying a $100,000 cash-only bond was ever served. When he failed to show up for a court hearing Aug. 9 on the July 18 arrest, a warrant for failure to appear was issued as well.

Capt. William Davis of the Joplin Police Department said that, as of Monday afternoon, Martin remained at large.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.