Man stabbed girlfriend after she refused to give him $20, police say

GLENDALE — A 33-year-old Glendale man turned himself in to police Sunday after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend in the stomach when she refused to give him $20, officials said.

Lombard Martinez walked into the Glendale Police Department headquarters on Isabel Street about 11:26 a.m. Sunday and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and spousal assault after the alleged stabbing, police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The girlfriend, whose name was not released, was treated for a non-life-threatening stab wound to her stomach at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and released.

She was stabbed about 3 a.m. after refusing to give Martinez $20 — the couple’s 3- and 5-year-old sons watching from their bed, Lorenz said.

She told officers that Martinez had come home drunk demanding the money, and when she refused, she was stabbed.

She didn’t immediately notify police because she said she didn’t want to get Martinez in trouble. She instead called her mother, who took her to the hospital.

Police responded to the hospital that morning when she refused to tell doctors and nurses how she was wounded, Lorenz said.

Detectives later spoke with Martinez on the phone about the incident, prompting him to turn himself in, he said.

Police searched the couple’s home and found the steak knife used in the attack, Lorenz said.

A protective order was also issued against Martinez requiring him to stay away from her, he said.