A Mentmore man remained behind bars June 16 after arrested on charges of breaking and entering; criminal damage to property; resisting; and evading or obstructing an officer, according to a police report.
Officer Chavo Chischilly of the Gallup Police Department wrote in a report that Marcus Spencer, 26, was the sole suspect in several downtown break-ins that began several minutes after 1 am on June 14.
Chischilly initially responded to an alarm at Richardson’s on Historic Highway 66, and ended up responding to broken glass reports at Wells Fargo (300 W. Aztec Ave.), Gallup Custom Tinting Inc. (110 S. Third St.), and The Rex Museum on Highway 66. A vehicle was also damaged.
Steve Silversmith, jail warden at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, confirmed that Spencer was jailed on a $31,000-bond amount.
“I could hear a person yelling as I parked at Gallup Custom Tinting,” Chischilly wrote. “I could not see anyone, but I saw a male run across the railroad north to the Historical Museum. I then heard glass breaking.”
Chischilly wrote that he observed Spencer lift a green metal 55-gallon trashcan above his head and smash it against the museum glass. Chischilly eventually caught eye contact with Spencer, and Spencer took off running. At some point, the suspect injured himself on the broken glass, the police report suggests.
“I never lost sight of him as he kept running,” Chischilly recorded. “He got halfway between Second and Third streets [on the railroad tracks] when he gave up and stood with his hands up.”
Chischilly wrote that Spencer was bleeding from the arm, so an ambulance was called to the scene. Spencer was then transported to Gallup Indian Medical Center. There were broken windows at each of the businesses mentioned by Chischilly, the report states.
Chischilly wrote that he asked Spencer what happened to sustain the cuts and bleeding, and Spencer replied that his “girlfriend pushed him down the Interstate 40 wall.” He told Chischilly he didn’t do anything.
“It looks like a two-men job,” Spencer told the officer.
After ultimately admitting to the property destruction, Spencer admitted to damaging the windows of a vehicle that was parked near Richardson’s. The estimated amount of overall damage committed by Spencer was $37,000, according to Chischilly’s report.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
