Man arrested, charged amid claims of $2.3T Russian bounty

A man faces charges after he called police and allegedly told them members of his family had been murdered and a Russian bounty had been placed on his head.  

Martin R. Robles, 28, was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest after he called 911 to summon police to a Maricopa Meadows home on April 1, according to police.  

According to a probable cause statement, officers were dispatched to the home at 12:36 p.m. when Robles allegedly told police that his family was murdered, and that “the Russians” had a 50-million bitcoin bounty on him. (With a single bitcoin currently worth about $46,000, the bounty would be about $2.3 trillion.) 

Robles told a dispatcher that he was armed with a shotgun inside his home, but was home alone, police said. Police then contacted Robles by cellphone and got him outside the home.  

According to the probable cause statement, officers described Robles as “extremely agitated,” and he allegedly told officers that they needed to get away from the area immediately.  

As officers spoke with Robles in an effort to calm him down, he allegedly grabbed a responding officer’s radio and started screaming for help, police said.  

As officers tried to put Robles into handcuffs, a struggle on the ground ensued, according to police, who said Robles was allegedly trying to wrest control of an officer’s service weapon.  

After telling Robles he would be Tased, officers placed him in handcuffs at 12:58 p.m., police said.   

Robles was taken for a medical evaluation, then booked into Pinal County Jail, police said.