On Aug. 24, deputies with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office were involved in a police shooting. The New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was contacted to investigate this shooting incident.

Preliminary information indicates that around 1 am on Aug. 24, RASO received a call about a fight in progress at the Jemez Electric Company on US 84/285 in Rio Arriba County. RASO deputies responded to Jemez Electric and found no sign of a fight in progress. Further investigation led deputies to a residence on County Road 1 in Hernandez, NM. When deputies arrived in the area they heard what sounded like a verbal altercation nearby.

Deputies discovered nearby two males outside a residence on County Road 1. When deputies approached the subjects, both fled from the deputies. Deputies gave chase and during the chase shots were fired by at least one deputy near the driveway of the residence, located near the 500 block of County Road 1. No one was struck or injured by the gunfire.

Deputies subsequently detained two male subjects who were later released pending the results of the investigation.

Following this incident, RASO contacted the State Police Investigations Bureau to investigate the shooting. Details are limited at this time. When more information is available it will be disseminated. The names of the deputies involved will not be released until all interviews have been completed. No further information is available.

A crowd of community leaders, business owners and city residents gathered inside the Gallup Cultural Center Aug. 22 for the final community workshop for the Coal Avenue Commons project.

The city of Gallup received a $150,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, “matched by $150,000 in contributions from local government, institutions and organizations, to re-imagine two blocks of Coal Avenue in the heart of downtown Gallup as an ‘event street,’” according to coalavenuecommons.com.

There were three design concepts to choose from for the project.

“This is our final community input meeting on the Coal Avenue Main Street project. We’re excited for the city of Gallup,” said Howard Kaplan, project manager of the consultant team from Wilson & Company.

Kaplan introduced the key players on the project, including George Radnovich from Sites Southwest, the lead landscape planning firm.

“The process actually started in May with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts,” Kaplan said. “There’s a lot of interest in this project and we hosted a series of focus groups.”

Radnovich said the three design concepts were the product of meetings with the public, city officials and business owners over a three-month period.

“It’s been an exciting process so far,” he said.

The three options consist of: Main Street, Main Street with parklets and Plaza Street. Features ranged from pedestrian tables, pedestrian scrambles, lighting, parklets, bollards, gates, trees, pavement designs and more.

People listened to the presentation and heard detailed descriptions of the amenities of each design. At the conclusion, they voted for their choice of design using colored stickers.

The group will rank the designs to select the concept by Sept. 3, before the final presentation to the City Council on Sept. 25.

Information: coalavenuecommons.com

By Rick Abasta

Sun Correspondent

ALBUQUERQUE – On Aug. 22, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced he has indicted Edward Cebada, a convicted felon and registered sex offender on new charges of rape of a child.

On Aug. 21, a grand jury charged Cebada with multiple counts of Criminal Sexual Penetration of a Minor, Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Aggravated Battery.

“As Attorney General, I’m disgusted and angered that a convicted sex offender is alleged to have harmed another child in our community,” Balderas said. “I will aggressively prosecute this case, and all dangerous child predators that sexually exploit children in New Mexico.”

In July of 2013, Cebada was convicted of numerous felony counts of Criminal Sexual Penetration of a Minor, Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor and one count of Child Solicitation by Electronic Communication Device involving separate cases from Bernalillo County and Sandoval County.

Cebada is currently in custody and prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General have filed a motion for preventative detention urging the District Court to keep Cebada in custody while he awaits trial to ensure the safety of the community.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On Aug. 20, Georgina Warren, 34, of Dennehotso, Ariz., and a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Warren had previously pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

The case involved Warren firing a .22 caliber rifle at her brother, who was about 40 yards away.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement. The prosecution was handled by Sharon K. Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona.

That same day, Aug. 20, Irwin Carl Foster, 38, of Ft. Defiance, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 41 months’ imprisonment. Foster had previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.

In August 2017, Foster intentionally stabbed the victim, a member of the Navajo Nation, with a knife resulting in a laceration to his chest and a punctured lung. Foster is also a member of the Navajo Nation.

Foster's case was investigated by Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kiyoko Patterson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix handled the prosecution.