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Sending a message to cops

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A Lukachukai man broke a Gallup cannabis store’s window, but it wasn’t because he was upset about marijuana legalization.

On March 9, around 4:05 pm, Gallup Police Officer Julio Yazzie was sitting in his patrol car at the intersection of Ford Drive and Highway 66, when he noticed five people surrounding one man at the former Kim’s Imports Plus, 1011 E. U.S. Rte. 66.

When he approached the group, he found Herlton Seymour Chee, 39, from Lukachukai, Ariz. The other people around him told Yazzie that Chee had thrown a rock through a window at Red Barn Growers, 1005 E. Hwy. 66.

Chee agreed to talk to Yazzie in his police car. Once in the car, he said he wanted to talk to Yazzie’s supervisor instead.

After dealing with a reportedly uncooperative Chee, Yazzie went to go talk to the witnesses. One woman said she had been in the business’s lobby when she heard a loud crash. She also saw glass flying in from the front window.

According to Yazzie’s report, the woman saw a short man with a backpack and short hair walk by about the same time the window was shattered. The suspect man then started heading east. Security went after the him and caught up with him, Chee, at the business next door.

Yazzie also spoke to Red Barn Growers’s manager. He said that when he heard the crash he came out from the back room and went after Chee. He told Yazzie that the broken window could cost as much as $2,200 to replace.

The manager told Yazzie they had already cleaned up the mess, but he was able to show him that a big rock wasn’t used, but rather a bunch of small rocks.

Yazzie found a softball-sized hole in the window. The window was a 5x8 foot double pan window with tint.

Chee refused to speak to Yazzie; he said he only wanted to speak to his supervisor.  According to Yazzie’s report, Chee said he wanted to know why his brother’s incident wasn’t being handled and solved. He also commented that he only broke the window because he wanted to get attention.

Chee was taken to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, where he was charged with criminal damage to property worth over $1,000. His preliminary examination is scheduled for March 23.

By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent