Cibola County, NM - On March 18 at about 6:29 am, the New Mexico State Police investigated a fatality. A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle on the on-ramp of Exit 72 off Interstate 40, west of Grants.

 

The initial investigation indicated a 2006 Toyota was merging onto Interstate 40 westbound from the on-ramp of Exit 72. For reasons still under investigation, a pedestrian, identified as Herman Padilla, 39 of Albuquerque, who was a passenger in a parked Commercial Motor Vehicle on the on-ramp, was struck by the Toyota. Padilla succumbed to fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

 

The driver of the Toyota, who will not be...

 

Carlton Craig Sandoval, 38, of Window Rock, Ariz., has been charged federally with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

 

The FBI arrested Sandoval in Gallup March 16.

 

Sandoval is accused of having a firearm in a vehicle in Navajo, N.M., on Jan. 1, 2020.

 

Special Agent Jonathan Labuhn explained in the complaint filed on February 20 that Sandoval is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition based on a 2015 charge for possession of drug paraphernalia in Maricopa County Arizona and a 2010 charge of aggravated driving or actual physical control while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, also in Maricopa County.

 

He was also...

A disorderly man was shot by a McKinley County sheriff’s deputy in response to a call during a March 1 incident at the Flying J gas station on I-40 near mile post 39.

The deputy was sent out around 11:30 pm and arrived to find a man on the westbound off ramp to I-40. The deputy fired his weapon and struck the man, who was taken to an area hospital where he is believed to have non-life-threatening injuries.

The deputy was not injured.

Details of the incident, the encounter and the shooting are currently under investigation.

The identities of those involved will not be released until interviews are complete.

The New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was contacted by the...

Gallup Police officers were called to Walmart in Gallup March 3 in reference to an armed robbery that occurred at about 7:30 pm. Two adult women, both of Gallup, were walking to their vehicle in the parking lot, when they were stopped by Cody Howard, 33, of Mentmore, and Vanessa Reeves, 28, of Mentmore.

Howard allegedly brandished a pistol and even fired off a shot while demanding the women’s purses. The victims gave their purses to the robbers, who then fled the scene in a vehicle. The victims were not injured. Detectives were called to the scene.

Meanwhile, GPD officers searched for the suspects. At about 9:30 pm, they located the suspect vehicle in the area of Sonic North, 1001...