Struck by car
2/26, Grants
A McKinley County man was taken to the hospital Feb. 26 after he was struck by a car as he was walking along the road.
Juan Garcia, 52, was transported to the hospital in Grants with head injuries.
The driver of the vehicle, McLane Antone, said he was driving southbound on Highway 371 about 9:21 pm near the six-mile marker when he saw Garcia walking alongside the road. He said he had just dimmed his headlights because of an oncoming vehicle when he saw the pedestrian and tried to avoid hitting him.
Garcia was hit, however, by the vehicle’s side passenger window. Antone said he immediately stopped his vehicle and went back to check on the pedestrian who was laying on the shoulder of the road with his legs in the roadway.
Garcia was not cited for the accident but did get a citation for having an expired driver’s license.
Facebook threats
2/26, Thoreau
The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a threat placed on a Facebook page saying that two brothers are planning to shoot up a school in Thoreau sometime this week.
The threat was brought to the school’s attention by a student at Thoreau Elementary Feb. 26. After seeing the post on Facebook, school administrators put the school on yellow alert and asked sheriff deputies to be available to monitor the students when they were released from school for the rest of the week.
Navajo police were also contacted and they also agreed to provide assistance.
Nervous on Interstate 40
2/25, outside Gallup
A Gallup man was arrested on drug possession charges after a routine traffic stop ended up in a search of a vehicle and the discovery of heroin.
McKinley County Sheriff Dep. Lee Johnson said he was patrolling Interstate 40 near midnight on Saturday when he checked on a car in front of him and discovered that the owner had allowed the insurance to lapse.
He conducted a traffic stop and talked to the driver, Devin Masci, 24, of Gamerco and a passenger, Josue Garcia, 32. Both the man and woman appeared to be nervous, said Johnson, who said when he looked into the vehicle he saw several pieces of foil used to smoke narcotics.
He explained to Masci why he stopped her and gave her a citation for lack of current insurance.
As she was headed back to her vehicle, Johnson said he asked her if he searched her vehicle, would he find anything illegal. She said no and Johnson then asked if she would allow his canine partner to walk around the vehicle and make sure.
She said there may be some drug paraphernalia in the vehicle but refused to give her consent to any kind of search. Johnson then told her she was being detained and then went and asked Garcia to get out of the vehicle.
He then asked Masci again if he could search the vehicle and she kept quiet, Johnson said. He asked for a third time and this time she said yes.
When he searched the vehicle, he found an uncapped syringe containing a brown substance, which he believed to be heroin. He also found a glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine along with other pieces of drug paraphernalia.
He then was led back to Masci and asked if the item belonged to her and she said no, they belonged to her boyfriend. When he was asked, Garcia admitted the items belonged to him and he was arrested.