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WEEKLY DWI REPORT

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Sanfred Watchman

Sept. 14, 3:11 am

Aggravated DWI (Refusal)

McKinley County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Eric Jim said he was on regular patrol when he was told to be on the lookout for a brown Chevy; the driver had been refused service at the Sagebrush Lounge because he was intoxicated.

The driver was seen going east on State Highway 264, so Jim reportedly headed north on U.S. Highway 491 and soon saw the car heading south toward Gallup. He turned around and followed the car to the Safeway parking lot.

According to the report, Jim approached the driver, who was identified as Sanfred Watchman, 46, of Mexican Springs. Watchman admitted he’d had a six pack of beer before setting out for Gallup and agreed to do a field sobriety test, which he failed.

He refused to take a breath alcohol test and was arrested. Jim said he also found an open bottle of vodka in the vehicle, so Wathcman was also charged with possession of an open liquor container.

Rick Ponchuella

Sept. 11, 2:30 am

Aggravated DWI

MCSO Deputy Paul Davis Jr. said he was driving on South Second Street when the vehicle in front of him stopped for a red light and then did not move when the light turned green.

Davis said he got out of his unit to do a welfare check when he discovered the driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

He reportedly woke the driver, and identified him as Rick Ponchuella, 32, of Gallup. Davis said he could smell the odor of intoxicating liquor coming from inside the vehicle.

Ponchuella reportedly said  he was in the process of getting a divorce and admitted he had been drinking. He agreed to take a field sobriety test and failed.

He then agreed to take a breath tested and posted samples of .21 and .20.

Ricky Ben

Sept. 9, 1:11 am

DWI

MCSO Deputy Johnson Lee said he was told someone at Arrowhead Towing on Hassler Valley Road reported a fight in process, so he headed out in that direction.

When he arrived at Hassler Valley Road, Lee was told one of the men involved in the fight had left and was headed toward town. Lee said he soon saw the suspect vehicle and turned around to conduct a traffic stop.

He met Ricky Ben, 24, of Blue Gap, Ariz., who said he was coming back from attending the Navajo Nation Fair and had dropped a friend off at his home. The friend had allegedly become angry and started yelling, so he left and was planning to go home.

Lee said he noticed Ben showed signs of intoxication and asked him if he had been drinking.

Ben admitted to having one shot, but Lee said he saw an open bottle of vodka on his car.

At that point, Ben admitted that he had been at the Shalimar Inn and agreed to do a breath alcohol test, which he failed. He then agreed to do a breath alcohol test and posted two samples of .12.

Colton Lee

Sept. 6, 11 am

Aggravated DWI

According to a city police report, Colton Lee, a community service aide for the Gallup Police Department, backed his personal vehicle into a fence on Piñon Lane.

Patrolman Daniel Brown, who was the first at the scene, said Lee, 24, of Gallup was taken to a local hospital to check on his injuries.

In the meantime, police checked his car and found four empty miniatures of 99 Watermelon and several unopened miniatures.

When police went to the hospital to question Lee, he was reportedly uncooperative and refused to answer any questions. Because of his injuries, he was not required to do a field sobriety test but he was asked to repeat the alphabet backward and he said he could not do it.

He did agree to do a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .22 and .23.

LaVaughn Eriacho

Sept. 6, 1:58 am

Aggravated DWI

The incident began when GPD Sgt. Mark Spencer stopped Eriacho, 27, of Zuni for driving on the Twin Buttes Road with no headlights on and noticed an odor of intoxicating liquor coming from inside the car.

At that point, Spencer turned over the case to a patrolman, Victor Madrid, who said he observed signs that Eriacho was intoxicated so he asked I’m if he was willing to take a field sobriety test.

He agreed and failed the test, so he was arrested for DWI. He then agreed to take a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .21 and .19.

Emerson Largo, Jr.

Sept. 5, 10:59 am

Aggravated DWI

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Paul Davis Jr. said he was dispatched to the county water department building on First Avenue to check on a vehicle that was parked there because of reports that it had almost hit several other vehicles.

As he arrived, he reportedly saw the car driving away and followed it.

A short time later, Davis said he saw the vehicle go into the wrong lane and keep driving, so he conducted a traffic stop.

When Davis spoke with Largo, 29, of Thoreau, he said Largo was disoriented.

Davis said he noticed the odor of intoxicating liquor coming from Largo’s person, and he asked Largo if he was all right. Largo said he was.

Largo agreed to take the field sobriety tests and he failed. He was then arrested. He later agreed to take a breath alcohol test during which he posted samples of .22 and .20.