RESISTING ARREST

Thoreau, Sept. 1

McKinley County Sheriff Sgt. Anthony Morales has no problem identifying the man sitting under the tree. It was Joshua Jason Jim, 26, of Thoreau, a man who had had several dealings with sheriff ‘s deputies in the past.

On this occasion, Sept. 1 at about 6 pm, Morales had gone to the Speedway Gas Station in Thoreau in response to a call about a man trying to fight with customers.

Morales said he told Jim to stand up, but he ignored the command. Morales said he observed several signs that Jim may have been intoxicated. When Morales again told him to stand up, he did and Morales escorted him to his police vehicle .

As he attempted to place...

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health reports the death of a 15-year-old McKinley County boy from hantavirus disease. This is the third case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year and the second death.

Hantavirus is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings or saliva. People can contract the disease when they breathe in the virus that is suspended in the air.

“We want to make sure people know how to protect themselves from hantavirus so no other family has to endure this kind of tragedy,” said New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel. “People need to avoid contact with mice and other rodents and be careful when cleaning up...

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Clayton Etsitty was on patrol Aug. 26 when he noticed a passenger car traveling eastbound near the intersection of Hubble Street and South Chino.

Etsitty called the vehicle, a Nissan Altima, into Metro Dispatch for a registration check on the license plate. Dispatch then advised that the license plate number matched those on a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

After following the suspect vehicle onto South Chino, Etsitty performed a high-risk traffic stop. He drew his department-issued firearm and told the driver to turn off the vehicle and step out. The driver did so, and was identified as Danielle Kinsel, 33, of Gallup.

Kinsel asked Etsitty was...

McKinley County Sheriff Deputy Roane Alan was running radar on U.S. Highway 491, Aug. 24 when he observed a silver Ford Taurus traveling south without a license plate.

Alan proceeded to follow the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop near the 1.5 mile marker.

After making contact with the driver, Nicole Brown, 35 of Gallup, Alan asked her to show him the vehicle documents. While she searched for them, Alan noted there were other occupants in the car who were not wearing seatbelts. Alan asked the passengers for their identification cards, at which point they become nervous.

Alan obtained identification details on the passengers and ran the info through Metro Dispatch. He was...