FIRE ROCK CASINO – FAKE NOTE
2/21, GALLUP
Oscar Moreno, 30, was detained by Fire Rock Security after attempting to pass a fake bill. The $100 note recovered by security officer James Tsosie was given to McKinely County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Arnold Noriega.
Moreno was booked into the McKinley County Detention Center and charged. During booking it was discovered that Moreno was in possession of an altered identification, not his own. Additional charges were added.
RESISTING ARREST
2/20, GALLUP
Gallup Police Department Officer Ryan Blackgoat was dispatched to Don Diego’s in reference to a suspicious male skulking about vehicles. Witnesses gave Blackgoat a description of the suspect. Blackgoat encountered Michael Yatsayte, 43, of Vanderwagen, matching the description.
Yatsayte stated he was looking for his girlfriend and he had been assaulted. However, he refused medical treatment. Blackgoat ran Yatsayte’s name and discovered a bench warrant out of Ruidoso, N.M. Yatsayte attempted to flee from Blackgoat and another officer.
During the attempt to apprehend Yatsayte, Blackgoat used his Taser, without result. Yatsayte was injured during the pursuit when he jumped down from a brick wall in an alleyway. Yatsayte proceeded to threaten the officers. An ambulance was called and transported Yatsayte to GIMC hospital. At the hospital, Yatsayte injured himself while attempting to escape handcuffs. After he was cleared by the hospital staff, Yatsayte was transported to the county jail.
PLAYING WITH FIRE
2/18, GAMERCO
Ernesto Zarate, 18, of Gamerco, a student at Gallup High, is facing two felony charges. One for receiving a stolen firearm and the other for distribution of marijuana, in addition to five misdemeanor charges.
MCSO Deputy Arnold Noriega pulled over the green pickup truck that Zarate driving after he observed it traveling southbound on Chino Loop at a “high rate of speed,” the report states. When Noriega approached Zarate’s truck, he could smell marijuana coming from the interior.
When he asked Zarate to step out of the vehicle, Noriega noticed a glass bong in the driver’s side door. Deputy Johnson Lee showed up to the scene with K9 Max to search the vehicle. Zarate gave consent for deputies and Max to search the vehicle, even reportedly admitting that there were 10 grams of marijuana in the truck.
Deputies located “a jar of marijuana, several portable scales …. several glass pipes with marijuana residue and a MP5 pistol in the bed of the pickup truck,” the report states.
Noriega conducted a stolen check on the firearm, and “was informed that the firearm was stolen out of Tucson Police Department in Arizona.”
Zarate was arrested and taken to McKinley County Adult Detention Center where the booking officer found nearly $2,700 in cash in his pocket. An official from the District Attorney’s office told Noriega to seize the cash and photograph it.
Noriega took the cash back to the Sheriff’s office and hid it between two chairs. Without any hints given, K9 Max, the drug sniffing dog, went straight for the dope-smelling cash.
Zarate has a preliminary examination set for 8:30 am March 1 at Magistrate Court, Judge April Silversmith’s chambers.
SEX OFFENDER FAILS TO REGISTER
2/17, GALLUP
MCSO Inv. Gabrielle Puhuyesva was notified by MCSO Sex Offender Compliance Administrator Judith Grijalva that Sex Offender Jonathan Bitsilly, 55, was not in compliance. Bitsilly failed to register with the Sheriff’s office Feb. 7, a scheduled appointment. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Know his whereabouts? Call Crime Stoppers (877) 722-6161.
DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
2/15, GALLUP
GPD Officer Daniel Brown, was dispatched to check on a suspicious vehicle, and encountered Nicole Martinez, 31, and Lisa Lopez, 22, who gave a false names. Martinez gave the name of Monica Villanueva, who happened to have a warrant for her arrest.
When being arrested for Villanueva’s warrant, Lopez confessed her true identity and was arrested for concealing her identity. The booking officer discovered a pipe and small bag containing a brown sticky substance, which Brown believes to be heroin, in Martinez’s “private area.”
BUSTED AGAIN
2/11, GALLUP
Sabrina L. Dickinson was picked up on a warrant Feb. 11 for allegedly attempting to conceal her identity to avoid going back to jail.
GPD Officer John Gonzales was dispatched to the Pinion Hills Apartments, 2811 Dairy Dr., shortly past 1 am, to check on a suspicious vehicle – a black Chrysler 300 – parked in the lot.
Gonzales approached Dickinson, and he noted in his report that she was trying to conceal something in her right hand. She was holding a lighter and a grey plastic pipe.
“… The pipe was warm to the touch and had a dark residue in it,” the report states.
Gonzales asked for her ID, but Dickinson said that she didn’t have it on her. She gave the name of Lavonda Dickinson with a bogus birthdate. Metro Dispatch informed him that a Sabrina with the same last name was wanted on a warrant. Another officer arrived on scene with a photo matching the suspect.
When Gonzales checked Dickinson’s jacket, he found her proper ID and a glass pipe with dark residue in it. She was booked on her outstanding warrant, concealing identity, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
