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Weekly Crime Blotter

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BAD KNIGHT

9/4, GALLUP

Gallup Police Department Officer Douglas Hoffman responded to an early evening call  the Knights Inn at 1601 W. Hwy. 66 in reference to a burglary. At the scene, motel staff told Hoffman the male and female suspects had left the premises, traveling eastbound on Aztec Avenue.

At Aztec Avenue and Dean Street, Hoffman noticed two males fighting. Eric J. Martinez, 29, ran east into a parking lot. The other male shouted that he’d been stabbed. Hoffman ran after Martinez, who went to the ground and had blood on his hands and clothes.

The victim and a motel employee pointed out the woman, Shannon Etcitty, 29, who had been involved in the burglary.

Etcitty initially gave improper identification to the police.

A TV and a Direct TV cable box had been taken from Room 143.

Hoffman found a pocketknife at the scene of the fight. Martinez had a warrant out of his arrest. He and Etcitty were booked. The charges included aggravated battery, burglary, and concealed identity.

HOUSE PARTY

9/3, GALLUP

GPD Officer John Gonzales was dispatched to 1401 Red Rock Dr. to assist other department officers in breaking up a house party.

The owner of the house arrived on scene; he’d not been aware that anyone was in the house, nor had he given permission for a party. Gonzales found about 40 to 60 people in the basement with alcohol and pipes and cigarettes; it was a large party, according to the report. About 25 people were under the age of 18, and several of them were drunk.

Parents were called to pick up their minors.

Brandon Garcia, 22, and Alfredo Estrada, 21, were among the adults at the scene. An unknown male had an assault rifle at the party. Estrada and Garcia were arrested on charges of abandonment or abuse of a child, and contributing to delinquency of a minor.

NOT-SO-WELCOME MAT

9/2, GALLUP

GPD Officer John Gonzales was dispatched to the Villa de Gallup apartments at 325 N. Klagetoh St. in reference to a drunk male with a gun banging on the door of B104.

At the scene, officers encountered Manuel Chavez, 21, outside the apartment. The officers asked Chavez to show his hands, and he went behind a pillar and put an object under the welcome mat. Chavez was patted down  and secured in the back of Gonzales’s police car.

A supporting officer found a black and silver Smith and Wesson handgun under the welcome mat.

The female victim said she came home from work and tried to contact Chavez over the phone because he was out drinking. When he got home, he was upset at the victim for not having food ready. He threw things around the apartment and insulted her.

Chavez also hit the victim on her back.

The victim left for her grandmother’s apartment, B104, in the same complex. She was outside smoking when Chavez arrived, and allegedly lifted his shirt, and revealed the gun. The victim went into her grandmother’s apartment and Chavez began knocking on the door.

Chavez was arrested and booked on charges of aggravated assault on a household member, battery of a household member, and negligent use of a deadly weapon.

WILD WILLIE

9/1, GALLUP

GPD Officer Joe Roanhorse was dispatched to Home Depot at 530 Kachina St. in reference to a larceny. The caller said he was assaulted by a male who also stole his tools.

The victim had a bloody nose. He said he was working on a bicycle with his friend when Danathan Willie, aka “Willie Styles,” 36, approached him and started “mouthing off to them.” The victim said he knew Willie, who was drunk, from detox.

Willie grabbed a bag, and tools fell out. He held a screwdriver in his right hand and walked toward the victim saying, “I’m going to stab you guys.” But he then walked away toward the west.

Officers located the suspect at the Comfort Inn, 1440 W. Maloney Ave.; he was transported to jail and booked on charges of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

CAR KIDS

8/26, GALLUP

GPD Officer Ryan Blackgoat was dispatched to the Rio West Mall at 1300 W. Maloney Ave. in reference to a child abandonment case.

At the scene, Blackgoat met with the female caller who said she had been sitting next to a grey car, when she heard a baby’s cry from inside. The window was partially cracked. Inside, she saw an infant with another child lying at the bottom of the seat. The children were alone. The caller watched them for about 15-20 minutes, and when no one returned, she went inside the mall to call security.

Security arrived at the car, and the children were “sweaty, crying, and pink in the face.” As the caller went to look in the vehicle, a woman, Tammi Lee, 26, approached, asking what they were doing. Soon, officers arrived, too.

Lee said the children were OK, as she was watching them from another car. She was arrested on charges of abandonment of children.