Records from county law-enforcement agencies state that on Oct. 2, 2009, a vehicle hit a motorcycle and several people reported being assaulted. Mr. Eck and his son, R.E. "Juni" Eck III, were in the vehicle. Mr. Martinez and his wife, Christine, were on the motorcycle.
Mr. Martinez was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault, but those charges were dropped at the time of his arraignment in November 2009, according to Independent archives.
In October 2010 Mr. Eck was charged in Pinal County Superior Court on two counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal damage, one count of driving under the influence and assault, according to arraignment documents. The charges were later dismissed.
In March 2011 Councilman Eck faced and lost a council recall election.
"Babeu has been served with a $2.1 million lawsuit; I'm suing him, mostly because he destroyed a lot of my life," Mr. Eck said in a phone interview. "The attorney came up with the amounts: $1.5 (million) on me, $400,000 for my wife and $200,000 for my son."
The Independent is seeking a copy of the notice of claim.
"AJ Police Department requested that we conduct this investigation, to avoid possible conflicts. We stand behind the thorough investigation and action of our deputies. Due to the fact there is possible pending litigation, we are not able to discuss this case publicly at this time," Elias Johnson, public information officer for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said in an e-mail.
By Richard H. Dyer
