HIDING IN A BURNED-OUT BUILDING
Thoreau, Dec. 21

A can of “Smash” costing $3.19 landed a 31-year-old man behind bars.

When a man was spotted taking a can containing an alcoholic beverage from the Speedway store at 92 Hwy. 371 about 10:13 am, the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department got a call. The suspect was wearing a black jacket, beige pants, and blue shoes, and was seen running from the store in a westward direction.

Deputy Paul Davis arrived and was told the suspect was seen running toward Windsong Avenue. He went to a vacant burned down structure on Windsong and found two people.

Davis met Andy Garcia, 31, no address listed, who matched the description of the suspect. He...

Deputy Chief Daryl Noon never planned to go into law enforcement, but now he’s headed for the top spot in the Navajo Nation Police Department. Noon started his career as a booking officer with the Farmington Police Department. He set a goal for himself to become a police sergeant. He’s surpassed that. Noon has been Deputy Chief of the Navajo Nation Police Department since January 2019.

“I never really thought that I would be a police chief because I’m more of a behind the scenes kind of guy who likes to do the work with the command staff,” he said. “But as I got into leadership, I really enjoyed developing and leading the police officers.”

After 20 years of working in...

Augustine Benally
Dec. 10, 2:38 am
Aggravated DWI

McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Villa was stationed near the 3 Mile Marker of U.S. Highway 491 when he heard a loud bang that sounded like a car collision.

He found a gold Buick Encore parked in the northbound lane of the highway with its hazard lights on. A man was seen getting out of the car. He was identified as Augustine Benally, 32, no address listed.

Villa met Benally and had him wait inside his unit while he went to check for other passengers, finding none. He then spoke with Benally and noticed the smell of alcohol coming from him. Benally said he drank two beers prior to driving and he was coming from Sammy...

BABY CLOTHES DISGUISE

Gallup, Dec. 9

A black Chrysler Pacifica van was seen speeding near the 25.5-mile marker of Interstate 40. When McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Salazar stopped it, he saw a large box,  displaying the picture of a car seat in the back cargo area.

The driver, Edward Malone, 41, no address listed, said he had rented the van and proceeded to look up the rental agreement on his phone, without success. He did provide an ID. Malone said he was traveling to Tennessee to see family and although he said he picked the van up in Texas, his itinerary showed his trip started in Yucca Valley, Calif.

As he spoke, Salazar noticed Malone appeared visibly nervous...