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Friday, Mar 29th

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Pine Hill man arraigned for child sexual abuse

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ALBUQUERQUE – Leonard Yazzie, 39, of Pine Hill, N.M., and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was arraigned in federal court today on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child in Indian Country. Yazzie will remain in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for April 7.

A federal grand jury indicted Yazzie...

Highway 491 collision leaves one person dead

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One person died after a crash on March 19 when a car collided with a parked semi-truck. The victim was later identified as Nicholas Yazzie, 20, from Navajo, N.M.

Around 8 am, the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office was called to a crash on Highway 491 at the 6-mile marker.

According to the Sheriff Office’s Facebook page, the driver of the car drifted out of the right lane partially onto the shoulder of the road and hit a parked semi-truck. The police do not belief that the car stopped at any point.

Yazzie died at the scene. The semi-truck driver was only minorly injured, and his vehicle was not damaged.

The southbound lanes of Highway 491 were reduced to one lane for several hours...

Drug saint lets dealer down

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A man trying to get a large amount of marijuana out of the state may have been hoping Jesus Melvarde, the “narco-saint”, would help him achieve his mission.

On March 16, around 9:36 am, Gallup Police Officer Brandon Salazar saw a white Ford Fusion following too closely to a semi-truck near the 27-mile marker on I-40 eastbound. The car was also swerving onto the shoulder of the road.

When Salazar finally pulled the car over, he met the driver, Jonathan Jairo Barragan Alejo, 25, from Clearlake Oaks, Calif. He asked the young man for his license, registration, and car insurance, which Barragan Alejo was able to provide.

The officer had the young man follow him to his patrol car and...

Shoplifting to support a drug habit?

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An Albuquerque man was about to be charged with shoplifting, but then the police found fentanyl on him, so he received another charge for that.

On March 15, around 4:27 pm, Gallup Police Officer Christopher Dawes was dispatched to the Home Depot 530 Kachina St., in reference to a shoplifting call.

When he arrived at the store, the employee pointed out the alleged thief to Dawes. Edward Begay, 34, from Albuquerque, was sitting behind a stack of bags.

When Dawes spoke to the employee, he explained that Begay had been trying to swipe a card to pay for his items, but when it didn’t work, he began to walk out without paying.

According to Dawes’s report, Begay stole a pair of Husky...

Copper thieving duo get the shaft

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Two men led police on a chase through Gallup after absconding with some copper wire from Gallup’s streets department headquarters.

Andrew Howe, 31, of Gallup, and Shawn Denney, 44, from Gamerco, face larceny charges for allegedly going after a spool of precious metal paid for with taxpayer dollars.

It all started on March 11, around 5:03 am, when Metro Dispatch received a call from a city employee regarding two men loading up some copper wire from the streets department, 840 Warehouse Ln.

When Gallup Police Officer Philamina Chischilly arrived at the scene, a city employee explained that a small black SUV was seen near the electrical storage yard. The employee said he saw the two...

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