A man attacked a woman who was letting him stay at her house after she wouldn’t go get something from her car for him.
On March 2, around 11 am, Gallup Police Officer Anthony Morales was dispatched to the parking lot of El Sombrero Restaurant, 1201 Hwy. 66, after a woman who claimed to have been assaulted by a friend called Metro Dispatch.
When he arrived, Morales met the victim, who said a man named Veltin Montana was staying with her. Montana, 55, from Zuni, allegedly became upset with the victim after he asked to retrieve something from her car.
Montana allegedly started the interaction by yelling at the woman, and when she told him she needed to get dressed before she went outside, he began slapping her face.
Montana reportedly slapped the woman six times, and then she shoved him away from her. That’s when he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against a wall. He began squeezing her throat, and according to Morales’s report, the woman thought she was going to lose consciousness in that moment.
But before the woman could pass out, Montana let go of her throat and started shoving her again.
The woman opened her door and told Montana to get out of her house. According to Morales’s report, the victim had red marks and bruises on her face and strangulation marks on her neck.
Morales sent out an attempt to locate on Montana, but officers were unable to find him at that time.
District Judge Louis DePauli signed a warrant for Montana’s arrest.
Officers arrested Montana for the warrant March 10. He was charged with aggravated battery. His preliminary examination is scheduled for March 22.
Staff Reports
