Jerome Eskeets

Aug. 4, 12:24 pm

Aggravated DWI

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Terence Willie said he was on routine patrol when he was alerted to a possible drunk driver who was weaving all over the road north of Gallup on U.S. Highway 491.

He went to T&R Market and asked the woman who called in to identify the driver. She said it was the nearby man urinating outside of his vehicle. Another witness told Begay the man almost hit him.

By this time, Jerome Eskeets, 45, of Chinle, Ariz., had sat down on the ground in front of Willie’s police unit and had seemingly gone to sleep. Willie said he had to wake him up.

After he did, he asked Eskeets how much he had to drink that day...

EARLY MORNING BUST

Gamerco, July 26

A Gallup man is facing charges of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, and concealing identity after a chase that spanned overnight.

The incident began on Rosita Street in Gamerco with a report of gunshots being fired from a red pickup truck.

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Salazar arrived on scene about 2 pm on July 25 but was unable to locate the suspect vehicle. Two hours later, the vehicle was located in the same area with multiple occupants inside the cab. As backup arrived, the pickup sped off, heading north on U.S. Highway 491 and then west on State Highway 264.

It was a Ford F250...

Zane Olin Yazzie

July 27, 6:11 pm

Aggravated DWI (Third)

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Terrence Willie said he was dispatched to the Talk of the Town Car Wash in Thoreau to investigate a possible drunk driver.

When he got there, he found other deputies had arrived before him. He was told when they arrived, they found Zane Olin Yazzie, 50, of Prewitt, sweating or crying in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck. Yazzie told them he had been driving all day.

Willie said Yazzie appeared to be highly intoxicated. He reportedly smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech. Willie said he began asking Yazzie questions like where was he going and if he had had anything to...

Suspect was hiding out for nearly 40 years

Luis Archuleta, aka Larry Pusateri, a former Colorado resident wanted by the FBI since 1977 on a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution/confinement, has been apprehended and is being returned to Colorado following his arrest in Española, N.M. on Aug. 5, about 43 years later.

Special Agents from the Albuquerque FBI Division, working with the Española Police Department, arrested Archuleta.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Archuleta in 1977 on charges stemming from his escape from a Colorado Department of Corrections facility in 1974. At the time of his escape, Archuleta was serving a prison sentence resulting from his 1973...