Traffic was snarled on Interstate 40 in both directions June 2, due to two separate fatality accidents. One occurred in Gallup, near the on-ramp of I-40 eastbound at Munoz overpass, and the other near the Refinery exit in Continental Divide, N.M.

As for the local accident, Gallup Police Dept. Capt. Marinda Spencer said based off the initial investigation, shortly after 1 pm, the driver, Ken Leatherman, 61, of Yuma, Ariz., lost control of his vehicle that was towing a 6-foot long utility trailer.

The accident report states that as he merged onto the freeway from Munoz overpass, heading eastbound on I-40, he swerved onto the left side of the roadway, overcorrected, and came back onto...

Darrick Tso

May 19, 5:32 pm

Aggravated DWI

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Domenic Molina was traveling north on U. S. Highway 491 when he saw a pickup going faster than the other traffic on the road. Using his radar, he confirmed that the vehicle was going 68 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone.

He made a routine traffic stop and found four people in the vehicle. When the driver rolled down the window, he said he could smell the odor of intoxicating liquor being emitted from inside.

He identified the driver as Darrick Tso, 40, of Albuquerque. Tso agreed to take field sobriety tests which he failed.  On one of the tests, he said “I can’t do that even when I am...

Staff Reports

ALBUQUERQUE – Elmira Curley, 22, who resides in Navajo, N.M., was sentenced May 29 in federal court in Albuquerque to 120 months in prison for her conviction on assault and child abuse charges. Curley will be on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence.

The FBI and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety arrested Curley on July 6, 2016, on an indictment charging her with abusing a child resulting in great bodily harm.  The indictment alleged that Curley committed the crime on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M., on March 14, 2016.

On Feb. 13, 2018, Curley pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging her with...

Staff Reports

ALBUQUERQUE – Clyde Peterson, 46, who resides in Yahtahey, N.M., was sentenced May 30 in federal court in Albuquerque to 21 months of imprisonment for his conviction on a sexual abuse of a minor or ward charge.  Peterson will be on supervised release for eight years after completing his prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2016, on an indictment charging him with sexual abuse of a child between the age of 12 and 16 years from June 1, 2014 through Aug. 31, 2014, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M.

On Feb. 22, 2018, Peterson pled guilty to the indictment, and admitted that between...