A Zuni man robbed another man and then threatened him with a hatchet.
On March 2, Gallup Police Officer Darius Johnson was dispatched to Carquest, 1012 W. Maloney Ave., where he met up with a man who said a young couple, a man and a woman, had stolen $400 from him.
The victim explained that the couple approached him near the intersection of West Aztec Avenue and Dean Street. The man began to fight with the victim, and that’s when he took his wallet from his pants pocket.
The man explained that he tried to chase after his assailant. He caught up to them, and that’s when the man, later identified as Alexander Quam, 18, from Zuni, N.M., swung a hatchet at him. The victim backed off after that, not wanting to get injured.
Quam took off after that, but the victim was able to follow him to West Maloney Avenue before losing him again.
According to Johnson’s report, the victim said he just wanted his wallet back.
A witness approached Johnson and told him that he had seen the initial attack, and helped the victim by giving him a ride. Eventually, they found the couple running near West Maloney.
Ten minutes after Johnson took the witness’s statement, he came back and told the officer that he had found the couple again.
Johnson, along with Officer Christopher Dawes and Sgt. John Gonzales, followed the witness to the Maverick gas station where they found Quam and his girlfriend.
The girlfriend said she didn’t know what was going on, and that all she had done was run because her boyfriend had told her to do so. Quam told the officers that the reported victim had been getting aggressive with him.
The officers found a black and yellow hatchet matching the one the victim described in Quam’s possession, so Johnson arrested him. Johnson took Quam to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, where he was charged with robbery and aggravated assault.
Quam’s preliminary examination was on March 16.
By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent
