MOTEL STRUGGLE
Gallup, April 16
Gallup Police Officer Daniel Brown was dispatched to the Red Roof Inn on West Highway 66 about 1:40 am April 16 after the clerk reported a domestic dispute.
When he got to the room in question, he saw Valerie Nez, 29, of Houck, Ariz., standing by the door yelling and moaning. She had no pants on and appeared highly intoxicated. Another woman, Agnes Martin, 29, of Ganado, Ariz., was also there, along with the hotel clerk who had stationed himself between the two women.
The front window to the room was broken and there was glass on the ground.
Brown said he told Martin to get Nez’s pants. Nez put on her pants. Then Medstar was called.
Martin said she and Nez decided to stay at the hotel because of the curfew on the reservation. Martin said the two of them had been drinking and Nez began calling her names and began taking her clothes off.
Brown said he saw what appeared to be blood on Martin’s right cheek.
The desk clerk said he saw Nez try to hit a man and he pepper sprayed her to get her to stop. When Brown talked to Nez, she said she got mad and was pepper sprayed.
Officer Dominic Molina spoke with the male occupant from room 204, who said a child came to his room and asked for help. He said he was attacked by Nez.
Nez admitted to breaking the window. The clerk estimated it would cost about $200 to fix the broken window.
Nez was arrested for battery on a household member and criminal damage to property.
After being treated for a laceration she received breaking the glass, Nez was transported to the county jail and booked. Martin was given a domestic violence packet.
OUT-OF-STATE THIEF
Gallup, April 15
A woman was arrested on April 15 by a McKinley County Sheriff’s deputy who found her in possession of a stolen vehicle.
Deputy Ivan Tsethlikai Jr. had been dispatched to mile 67 of I-40 to check out reports of a woman attempting to stop vehicles on the interstate. When he arrived he found a Dodge pickup and trailer. There was no license plate on the trailer.
There was no one in the pickup. One of the tires had blown out. He called for a tow truck and while he was waiting, he met Sandra Pikel, 55, of St. George, Utah, who said she was the driver and had the vehicle since Dec. 2019. She said the pickup belonged to a friend in Texas who was currently in jail.
A check of the VIN number revealed the truck had been reported stolen. Pikel was arrested.
She was taken to the Gallup Adult Detention Center, but was refused booking because she was from out of state and had a temperature reading, first of 94 degrees, then less than five seconds later, of 99.6 degrees.
Pikel was transported to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital due to her high temperature and a statement she made that she was on a lot of medication because of a prior car accident in Texas where she broke her right ankle and lost more than 20 teeth. She was checked into admissions at the hospital.
An affidavit for a warrant will be filed for charges concerning the stolen vehicle.
