Man arrested for murder now charged in armed robbery of Indy taco truck

INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Sheriff’s office didn’t have to travel far to serve 33-year-old Chad Martin with his arrest warrant on several high-level felonies including armed robbery.

Martin was already sitting in the Marion County Jail on Tuesday awaiting his trial for the murder of 51-year-old Shane Coffman on April 29.

According to court records, Coffman was inside the Arco gas station in the 2000 block of English Avenue when he noticed someone trying to steal his car. Coffman tried to pull the suspect, later identified as Martin, out of the vehicle but Martin took off and dragged Coffman across the parking lot.

Coffman died from his injuries later that day.

Martin had been released from the Marion County Jail just two hours before the killing after being picked up for drunk driving.

He was re-arrested that day and charged with murder and robbery. Now police say those were just two incidents in a 72-hour crime spree.

The owner of an Indianapolis taco truck saw Martin’s face on the news and recognized him as the person who had robbed him just two days earlier.

Around 1 a.m. on April 26, police said Martin broke into a taco truck and pointed a pocket knife at the owner. The victim told investigators that Martin then picked up a knife and threw it at him, nicking him in the leg.

Martin then smashed an employee’s phone and made off with a set of keys, according to court documents.

The owner and employees all identified Martin as their attacker during a photo lineup.

Martin has a lengthy criminal history and has been in and out of jail at least 30 times in the last 15 years. Coffman’s son told us that the time that the system had let his father down.

“For this to happen…it’s unfair,” Coffman said after his father’s killing. “You know you can’t keep letting people out like this and expect different results. You can’t fix some people.”

Martin is scheduled to have his initial hearing on Thursday for his latest round of charges. His next hearing in his murder case is right now scheduled for November.

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