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Gallup car bandits released from jail

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Two area people caught driving a stolen vehicle were arrested and later released on their own recognizance from the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, records show.

Beverly Begay, 49, of Ganado, and Winfred Nelson, 45, of Gallup, were taken into custody Oct. 15 on receiving or transferring stolen vehicle charges. Begay was charged with DWI, not being in possession of a valid driver’s license, and possessing an open container of alcohol inside of a vehicle.

Gallup Police Department Officer Chaz Troncoso pulled Begay and Nelson over at the American Heritage Plaza along U.S. 491 on a possible stolen vehicle check. The two were behind the wheel of a late model silver Jeep Patriot that had been reported stolen earlier on the same day.

“Beverly stated that she was given permission to drive the vehicle by her brother, Robert Chavez,” Troncoso wrote in the report. “Beverly had bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcohol on her breath.”

Begay failed field sobriety tests.

An inspection of the stolen vehicle revealed no body damage, but did yield several Bud Light beer cans. Sam and Margie Brown, the actual owners of the Jeep, were ultimately contacted and the vehicle was returned to them, Troncoso wrote.

By Bernie Dotson

Sun Correspondent