WATER HEATER FIRE
Thoreau, April 13

A couples’ water heater went up in flames and led them to call the fire department one morning.

On April 13, at 8:39 am, McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Davis Jr. responded to a structural fire at 22 Johnson Road on N.M. Hwy. 612 in Thoreau.

He arrived around 9:00 am and found a Thoreau fire truck and other personnel on the scene. Smoke was still coming out of a bedroom located at the east end of the mobile home.

When Davis met with the homeowners they said no one had gotten hurt.

The fire was contained. The staff on scene said a water heater near the couples’ bedroom caused the fire. Davis took photos of the house and the heater.

BAD CHECKS
Vanderwagen, April 12

The owner of Joe Milo’s on State Highway 602 in Vanderwagen got a troubling letter from her bank. She had cashed a bad check for nearly $900.

She called to report a case of fraud.

McKinley County Sheriff’s  Deputy Paul Davis Jr. responded to the call on April 12 around 12:30 pm.

The owner said Eric Begay had cashed a check on March 26 for almost $900.

On April 2 she got a letter from her bank, Washington Federal, saying that the check was returned as unpaid.

She showed Davis an email notice from March 24 from the Vice President of Operations at Pinnacle Bank, giving the business notice of fraudulent checks being cashed from El Rancho Hotel Inc. and drawn off of Bank of Colorado/Pinnacle Bank. Begay had cashed one of those checks.

She gave Davis copies of the documents.. He ran the address associated with the check by Metro Dispatch, but they didn’t come up with anything. He also checked Begay’s name with the National Crime Information Center and the name Edward V. Begay came up.

Davis checked the man’s file and found that he had a New Mexico driver’s license. He also used the alias Eric Begay.

TRESPASSING
Mentmore, April 10

An unknown man scared a family in Mentmore when he showed up at their house claiming they had kidnapped his wife and daughter.

On April 10 around 5:13 pm, McKinley County Sheriff’s  Deputy Jonathan Todachine was dispatched to #98B Twin Buttes in Mentmore. The caller said someone had broken into his home.

The Mentmore man said he had been at the hospital with his wife, when his daughter called saying there was a strange man in their yard and he was checking out their cars. When the man got back home he found the man inside the house.

He returned to his house and confronted the stranger and claimed the stranger got upset. The stranger accused the man of kidnapping his wife and child and he said he wanted to know where they were. He also accused him of stealing his land and his property.

The Mentmore man told Todachine that he has dealt with drunk people in the past, but that this man did not seem drunk. He couldn’t explain the man’s behavior. He said his property has a barbed wire fence around it and that it hadn’t been knocked over. He assumed the man had to climb over or through it to get to his house.

The man said the stranger had been speaking very quickly and that it had been hard to understand him. When he asked the intruder his name, the only word he understood was “Ortiz.”

The stranger  drove away in a 2007 GMC truck which bore a New Mexico license plate. The plates came back to a Ricky Ortiz.

The Mentmore man said his daughter had some photos and video footage of the male subject and his car, and he said he would deliver those to authorities.

SIGN SHOT
Crownpoint, April 4

A dead end sign was the victim of gun shots near Mile Marker 12 on State Highway 566 in Crownpoint.

A man who was too worried to go out and check on the noise, contacted authorities April 4. McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerald Watchman was dispatched to the area around 6:30 pm.

The man told Watchman he heard several shots around 5:00 pm.

He said he went to the dead end area and noticed a road sign that had been shot several times. He also said he saw ammo brass casings on the side of the road.

Watchman took photos of the dead end sign and the casings.

The Crownpoint caller said he didn’t know who shot the sign. He said there had been some gunshots the evening before around 9:00 pm, but he hadn’t called about it.

The man said this had been an ongoing issue and that several people hang out at the dead end.

Watchman called Dispatch and requested a heavy routine patrol, and notified his immediate supervisor.

The caller said he would also contact the Crownpoint Navajo Police, so they would patrol the area as well.