Atwater man claimed stab wounds were a work injury. Now he faces insurance fraud charges

An Atwater construction worker who claimed that stab wounds suffered in a fight he started were work-related faces an insurance fraud charge, according to state officials.

Meliton Hernandez Martinez Jr., 23, faces felony charges of insurance fraud and a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report. He was arraigned in Merced County Superior Court on Tuesday. The Merced County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case, the California Department of Insurance said in a release.

Hernandez Martinez was on a work break when the fight happened, according to the Department of Insurance. Surveillance footage and witness statements reveal he made inappropriate gestures to a female in a parking lot and was confronted by her boyfriend, a Marine, who reportedly asked Hernandez Martinez to be respectful.

The surveillance video shows Hernandez Martinez, without provocation, punched the boyfriend in the face multiple times. Hernandez Martinez was stabbed in the abdomen and the arm, which local law enforcement determined to be self-defense, according to the release.

Hernandez Martinez filed a workers’ compensation claim with his employer and allegedly provided false statements about the incident. The Department of Insurance said all medical bills were later denied by Advantage Workers’ Compensation Insurance Company, after it was discovered that Hernandez Martinez was the aggressor and he was found to be under the influence of alcohol and cannabis at the time of the incident.

The state did not say when or where the incident happened.