Suspect Arrested in Death of Nashville Restaurant Owner

July 18, 2024 – Metro Nashville Police have arrested 24-year-old Ulises Martinez.

He is a suspected auto thief who is also wanted for questioning in the death of Smokin Thighs restaurant owner Matthew Carney, who was critically injured by a pickup truck June 19 on the restaurant property at 611 Wedgewood Avenue. Carney died from his injuries on July 4.

Specialized Investigations Division TITANS detectives apprehended him at the Somatel Motel on Metroplex Drive near I-24 and Harding Place Thursday.

On July 11, Specialized Investigations Division detectives working to locate Martinez spotted him get into the back seat of a car in the parking lot of a Bell Road motel. When detectives tried to stop the vehicle, the driver took off at a high rate of speed. An MNPD helicopter monitored the car as it pulled into a dead end gravel roadway in the 9700 block of Concord Road in Williamson County. The three occupants of the vehicle fled into the woods between Concord Road and Brunswick Drive. With the assistance of Brentwood Police, two of the men were apprehended. Martinez was not.

The driver of the car, Francisco Martinez-Lopez, 25, is charged in Nashville with felony evading arrest. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $2,500. The second person arrested, who was confirmed by his fingerprints to be Adrian Diaz, 31, is charged in Williamson County with evading arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia. A judicial commissioner in Williamson County set his bond at $26,000.

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Source: MNPD