Martinez climbed aboard the 130-foot-tall wheel at the Santa Monica Pier's Pacific Park at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Except for hourly five-minute breaks, he didn't stop riding it until 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Philip Robertson says that shattered the old record of 24 hours and 30 minutes, set last year in Dublin, Ireland.
Martinez, cheered on by family and friends, set out to break the record to raise money for Special Olympics Southern California.
The 18-year police veteran says he doesn't like heights and was never a fan of Ferris wheels. But he couldn't pass up the chance to support a good cause.
