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Weekly Police Activity Reports

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ILL-TEMPERED DAD

Gamerco, April 30

A Gamerco man was charged with abuse of a child after a McKinley County deputy investigated a report of a battery on a household member at the Grand Canyon Trailer Park on April 30.

Deputy James Garylle said the complaint came from the girlfriend of Mitchell Colwell, 31. She said Colwell had been mean to her and their three children for the past several days.

She said earlier that day, Colwell told her to go outside with the children because he wanted to clean the house. She did as he asked, but after a while, she said he came out and raised his fist as if to hit her and then went back inside.

She said after some time passed, she began to get cold and decided to go back inside and get some blankets for herself and her children. When she got to the door, she said Colwell threw her to the ground and held her down. He then got up and ran from the building.

Garylle said he also talked to a woman who had made the original call to police. She said Colwell had grabbed one of his children by the hair and threw him to the ground as well.

By now it was almost 1 pm, and Colwell was not around so Garylle left. He said he received a phone call about 6 pm telling him that Colwell had returned to his trailer. Deputies arrived a little later and found him asleep in the living room.

He was awakened and detained. Because his girlfriend refused to file battery charges against him, he was arrested only for abuse of a child.

 

FRIEND TURNS FOE

State Highway 602, April 27

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Paul Davis Jr. said in his report that he was dispatched at about 1 am April 27 to a site about 37 miles south of Gallup on State Highway 602 in connection with a report that a woman had been assaulted.

When he got to the spot, he found Fermina Lee. Her face was covered in blood. She said she had had been at the Sports Page in Gallup earlier with some friends who had agreed to take her home.

When they got to the 27-mile marker, she said that someone hit her on the head and it began bleeding. She said she was not sure who hit her. She said she lived only a few miles away, so Davis agreed to drive her home, but as they were driving there, she said her head began to hurt so he transported her to the Gallup Indian Medical Center, instead.

There is no indication of whether anyone was charged in the assault.

 

MISSION TO BREAK-IN

Thoreau, April 27

The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report on April 27 of a break-in at one of the buildings belonging to the St. Bonaventure Mission.

Mission officials weren’t sure when the burglary occurred, but earlier that day a custodian at the mission had gone to a house that was used to house visitors to get some cleaning supplies.

When she got there, she found the west side door open. A check inside the building found that someone had stolen about $70 worth of cleaning supplies from the utility room. There are no suspects.

 

STRANGE HAPPENINGS

Gallup, April 22

Gallup police were dispatched about 11 am on April 22 to a house on Burke Drive where a woman wanted to report a burglary to her vehicle.

Shannon Begay told police that someone had entered her vehicle during the night and stolen her purse, which she had left in the car by mistake. There were no signs of a break-in, but Begay said the front passenger door had been left unlocked.

She said her neighbor reported hearing a dog barking about 4 am. Her neighbor also told her that he had a television in the back of his pickup that been laying down the previous evening, but he found it standing up in the morning.

Begay told police that the purse, which had the initials VS on the side, contained her wallet and it contained an assortment of documents and credit cards, which she had since canceled.

Police have no suspects.

 

PAINFUL HIT-AND-RUN

Gallup, April 24

A Tohatchi woman reported to the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office a hit and run on April 24.

Alyssa Tyler said she was driving north on U.S. Highway 491 about 8 pm when she decided to use the left lane because she could see no traffic behind her. When she veered over into the lane, she said a white truck appeared out from nowhere and hit her from the rear and then drove away.

Deputies found damage to her rear panels. She complained of back pain and was transported to a local hospital.

 

GUN-TOTING VIGILANTE

Gallup, April 16

Gallup Patrolman Thomas House said he was dispatched to the Allsup’s Convenience Store at 2701 East Aztec Ave. in connection with a man with a gun.

When he got there, he met three women who said they had arrived at the store and were still in the parking lot when a man approached them and pulled out a gun, pointing it at them. They said he was wearing a hoodie so they could not see his face.

All three said they were scared for their lives, according to the report. After pulling out the gun, the man reportedly then put it back in his waistband and walked away.

Using a description of what the man was wearing, police were able to locate him nearby. He was identified as Jasper Platero, 25, of Canoncito, N.M. Police also found a BB gun in his waistband.

When asked what happened, Platero told, police he pulled out his gun because he thought the store was being robbed. At that point, Platero was charged with aggravated assault.

 

QUIT PLAYING MY SONG

April 16, Gallup

A 33-year-old Yah-Ta-Hay woman was transported to a local hospital for a mental evaluation after she threatened personnel at a Gallup radio station.

Employees said the woman walked into the iHeart Radio headquarters about noon on April 16 and started complaining that they were using her songs without her permission.

The manager of the station, MaryAnn Armijo, was called and the woman told her the same thing. Armijo told the woman that she needed to get an attorney and once she did, the station’s attorney and her attorney would work things out.

Police then detained the woman as she walked outside, and she was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

 

ANKLE-MONITOR ABSCONDER

Prewitt, April 15

On April 15, McKinley County officials reported an ankle bracelet missing.

The bracelet had been placed on Alvin Delgarito, 23, of Prewitt, N.M. by the courts so he could be tracked. He was ordered to stay within his property and not leave.

However, officials monitoring the bracelet said it was last pinged in April 11 in Grants and that Delgarito missed two appointments with county probation. They listed the ankle bracelet as being stolen, it’s value was placed at about $1,500.

As of press time, police were attempting to locate Delgarito.

 

DOMESTIC DISPUTE

Smith Lake, April 14

A Smith Lake man is facing numerous charges in connection with a domestic dispute that occurred on April 14 at the residence of his girlfriend.

Elliot George, 23, has been charged with aggravated assault on a household member, aggravated robbery, robbery, battery of a household member and evading arrest.

It began when Gallup Police were called to a home on Hill Street in connection with a domestic dispute. The girlfriend said George had locked himself in the bathroom and wouldn’t come out.

When police entered the bathroom, no one was inside, but the window was open and the screen was lying on the ground outside.

The girlfriend told police that she and George had gotten into an argument in the bedroom and he allegedly demanded that she give him her cell phone. She said she refused because he had destroyed her cell phone in previous arguments.

On this occasion, she said, George pulled out a knife and threatened her, so she gave him her cell phone. She said he then punched her and pushed her onto the bed.

Her son managed to call police and once they realized he had fled, they started a pursuit and soon apprehended him.

 

STRANGE BREAK-IN

Gallup, April 14

On April 14, Gallup Police responded to a call of a break-in at the D&A Body Shop on Clark Street.

When police arrived, they were told by management that someone had broken off a padlock. However, nothing was reported stolen.

A little later that day, another report was turned in from Dennis Fuhs, whose business is located directly east of the body shop. Fuhs reported a vehicle being stolen from his lot.

He said he looked at surveillance video and saw the suspects removing things from the body shop and placing them in the stolen vehicle.  But officials at the body shop continued to say they could not find any items missing from their shop.

Police said they have no suspects at this time.