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Weekly Police Activity Reports

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HOUSEHOLD ASSAULT

Gallup, July 15

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Cecil Sanders was dispatched to 1203 N. Cliff Dr. in regards to a domestic dispute.

Upon arriving, Sanders made contact with a woman who told him her daughter had been hit on the head behind her right ear.

The victim said she had been with her boyfriend, Tyrell Tyson Charley, 25, of Gallup, when they began to argue. The victim said Charley shoved her twice and then tried to choke her after knocking her to the ground. After the victim left the scene, she said Charley hit her in the back of the head with a rock.

After she got back home, her mother called Metro Dispatch and Charley was taken into Gallup Police custody shortly afterward.

The victim declined medical services, saying she was okay. Charley was taken to McKinley County Adult Detention Center, where he was booked for aggravated battery.

 

DOG KILLER

Thoreau, July 14

A horrific scene unfolded some time in the night for a Thoreau family that resulted in the death of their pet dog.

The family returned home near Cherokee Loop from Gallup on July 13 and were met by their dog, a full-bred wire haired Jack Russell. The family went inside while the dog stayed outside.

The next day, one of the family told McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Gilbert Padilla he had gone outside in the morning on July 14, where he found their dog dead under his neighbor’s vehicle. The dog appeared to have been shot.

Padilla made contact with another neighbor, who told him she had heard a popping noise outside the night before but did not see anyone outside.

No suspects have been identified.

 

ABUSIVE PARENT

Thoreau, July 12

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Clayton Etsitty was dispatched to a residence on Rose Street in reference to a child who had been hit by her father.

Etsitty made contact with the caller, who said her brother, Aaron Boyd, 39, of Thoreau, had punched his daughter in the face. The caller said the girl had a bloodied face and swollen lip.

Boyd was not at the residence when Etsitty arrived, but the girl’s mother was, and she verified the report made by the girl’s aunt.

Etsitty then made contact with the victim, who said her father had struck her after he got upset. Etsitty also confirmed her face had begun to swell and he called Emergency Medical Service of Thoreau to tend to the girl.

While EMS arrived on-scene, Boyd returned to the scene saying he wanted to own up to his mistake and face the consequences.

Boyd was transported to Gallup Indian Medical Center for clearance, before being taken to McKinley County Adult Detention Center for booking on charges of child abuse.

 

POWER PLANT BREAK-IN

Prewitt, July 10

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Jonathan Todacheene was dispatched to the Escalante Power Plant, 297 County Rd. 19A, in reference to one of the security officers reporting one of their wells had been broken into.

Todacheene spoke to the security officer, who said one of the plant’s contractors had noticed damage to one of the wells earlier in the day. The security officer also said about 60 feet of copper cable was missing.

No other damage was reported, and there was no security footage of the incident. There are no suspects at this time.

 

OFF-ROAD CRASH

Vanderwagen, July 10

A gray Dodge vehicle had been traveling westbound on Bread Springs Road when it failed to negotiate a slight curve and then went off the road onto the right shoulder. When the driver tried to get back on the road, he lost control of the vehicle and it skidded onto the left shoulder before it hit a tree, and then rolled to a stop.

When McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Ben Benally arrived on scene, he met Sgt. Monty Yazzie and Deputy Joey Guillen. Rescue personnel were onsite tending to a subject later identified as the passenger of the vehicle that went off the road.

Yazzie told Benally he made contact with a motorist who was first on the scene after the incident, and they had seen two subjects exit the vehicle. One of them fell to the ground shortly afterward, and the other subject fled to the south.

The subject at the scene told Benally he had been in the passenger seat with the driver, Sheldon Carlton Daye, 25, of Mentmore.

Guardian Med Flight airlifted the passenger to San Juan Regional Medical Center while Benally and Yazzie attempted to locate Daye.

After speaking with Daye’s mother, who said he had gone with the passenger to visit his mother, Benally and Yazzie located Daye later on Bread Springs Road, battered from the incident.

Daye refused to be treated by an ambulance, and when asked why he left the crash site, said he panicked.

Daye was transported for booking on charges of no driver’s license, immediate notice of accident, and careless driving. The passenger was discharged from San Juan Regional Medical Center later that day.

 

COUNTERFEIT BILL

Gallup, July 9

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Garylle James was dispatched to call a male subject who said he had been given a counterfeit $100 bill on June 22.

The victim said the name of the man asking for change for the bill was Dominic Garcia, 37, of Gallup. After giving him change for the bill, the victim later found out the bill was counterfeit.

The victim had reported the incident to the sheriff’s office the day it happened, but said he never received an incident number and wanted to file the case again.

On July 14, James attempted to contact Garcia through public service, but he was unable to make contact or leave a message with him.

 

EMPLOYEE THREATENED

Gallup, July 9

Gallup Police Officer Caleb Kleeberger was called out to Home Depot at 530 Kachina St. at 4:12 pm July 9 in connection with a report of a man waving around a knife.

The man was identified as Jason Frank.

Kleeberger said he detained Frank, who had been walking west in the Walmart parking lot at 1650 W. Maloney Ave. when he arrived.  Kleeberger searched Frank and found a gray folding pocket knife in his right front pants pocket. No inventory from the store was found on Frank.

When Kleeberger spoke with loss prevention employee, Freddie Rodriguez, he was told that after a visit to the restroom, Frank went to the center aisle in the store, turned to his left, while brandishing a knife in his right hand. Rodriguez said Frank was only an arm’s length away from him, when he turned and made a threat. Rodriguez backed away.

Frank said the store employee was lying and that Rodriguez had a personal vendetta against him. He referred to a previous incident at the Home Depot.

Frank was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center. The knife was entered into the Gallup Police Department evidence system.

 

TUBE SOCKS/POLYGAMY CARD RIP-OFF

Gallup, July 7

When Gallup Police Officer Jason Walley was called to respond to petty larceny at the Family Dollar  at 2800 E. Hwy. 66, he met a man in blue shorts and a black jacket who was later identified as Jose Campos.

Campos was holding a Family Dollar shopping bag and matched the description that had been called in a little before 11:39 am on July 7. But when Walley announced he was a police officer, Campos started walking away.  Walley said he called out, and Campos looked at him and then ran.  But Walley was faster.  He caught up, grabbed Campos and the two of them fell to the ground.

Walley took Campos back to the store and spoke with an employee, Madolyn Enote, who said a man walked in and was trying to leave the store when she grabbed his jacket, because she thought he was stealing things from the store. She identified Campos as that man.

She said when she grabbed him, three items fell out of his jacket.  She recovered ten pairs of black men’s tube socks, black flex seal tape and 600 polygamy cards. She said that Campos threw a cup of coffee at her near the entrance as she attempted to keep him from leaving.

She took back the items in the shopping bag Campos held, including Hershey miniatures, coffee mate Italian sweet crème, chocolate chip cookies, body spray for men and Kellogg’s pop tart bites.  She then scanned the items and the total cost came to $43.64.

Walley transported Campos to the McKinley County Detention Center and charged him with assault and larceny, resisting and evading.