DETENTION BATTERY

Gallup, March 1

McKinley County Deputy Ivan Tsethlikai Jr. was dispatched to the Gallup Adult Detention Center because an inmate hit another inmate.

When Tsethlikai got to the center about 1 pm, he met with the victim who explained he had been sleeping in his bunk when Andy Garcia came into his cell — the cell door was open.

According to the victim, Garcia started hitting his face and head with both fists. The victim said he does not know Garcia or why he attacked him. He did not fight back, but just held his arms up to protect himself.

The victim said he was okay, and Tsethlikai noted a small scratch on his right cheek. On-duty medical personnel looked him...

Marcus A. Miller

March 10, 2:38 am

DWI (2nd)

New Mexico Police Officer Alejandro Solis-Torres was patrolling State Road 602 northbound when he spotted a truck headed south traveling over 70 miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone.

Solis-Torres caught up with the driver, identified as Marcus A. Miller, 30, of Tohatchi, who reportedly had slurred speech and an open container in the cup holder of the front seat. Miller told the officer it was “Twisted Tea,” half of which he drank about an hour prior.

Miller was arrested after Solis-Torres suspected him of driving under the influence. Upon further inspection of Miller’s car, the officer found colored pipes with a “green...

A man who thought he spotted his brother’s stolen car contacted the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department. It was March 4. Derrick Natonabah saw a GMC Sierra that he believed was stolen from the Navajo Police Department in Window Rock, Arizona March 1.

The vehicle was seen near Sage Brush Liquor on Highway 264 bearing an Arizona license plate. Natonabah followed the half-blue spray-painted GMC to a Home Depot. As the vehicle continued traveling and the jurisdiction changed, the Gallup Police became involved.

GPD Patrolman Dominic Molina stopped the driver of the Sierra. The driver was identified as Alonzo Davis, 45, of Phoenix, Arizona.

When Molina approached Davis, he said the...

During the city council meeting held on March 9, Clyde Strain, Gallup’s Planning and Development Director, presented a grant that would pay for a new public safety building to house the Gallup Police Department and the Gallup Municipal Court.

The grant by the State of New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration, totals $1.5 million.

The design for the new building is complete, and in an interview after the meeting, Strain said the city is now looking at funding for the project. He explained that it is a $16 million project, but that the city has been putting money aside for it for years, and that it is at about the halfway mark now.

The grant is for the design...