Arrested for aggravated battery
Gallup Police Department officers encountered an unusual situation when they responded to a call at 2025 E. Aztec Ave. Donovan David Mills reportedly broke into the business to stay warm Jan. 9.
But there was something dangerous brewing in the microwave oven on the premises, and it wasn’t coffee.
“Mills began to what officers stated as [making] very strange statements,” the police report compiled by Det. John Yearly states. “Mills was asked what he was going to do with the stuff in the microwave” what was essentially an “improvised explosive device.”
“It appeared that Mills had placed two container[s] with butane in them – one being a lighter, along with a bag of microwave popcorn,” the report reads. “And on top of the microwave two gallons of gas were found in a red gas can.”
The cooking timer was set to 6:66.
An arson investigator on scene “came to the conclusion that the device would have caused an explosive fire,” the report states.
Mills, 36, told police that he suffers from schizophrenia, and was medically cleared before being booked into McKinley County Adult Detention Center for Aggravated Battery. He was still in custody as of Jan. 12.
By Babette Herrmann
Sun Editor
