ANOTHER STRIKE FOR PILL PUSHER
Gallup, March 28
A Gallup man with a previous narcotics violation was caught with almost 40 grams of counterfeit fentanyl, along with a list of other drugs.
On March 28, around 11:39 am, Gallup Police Officer Brandon Salazar was on duty when he saw a tan GMC Yukon roll through a stop sign at the intersection of Santa Rita and Ray Avenues.
When he got to the passenger side window, Salazar recognized the driver as Patrick Chiapetti, 25, from Gallup.
Salazar noticed Chiapetti seemed nervous. According to Salazar’s report, Chiapetti was on probation for a previous narcotics violation.
Salazar asked to search the SUV, and Chiapetti gave him permission.
During his search, Salazar reached under the SUV’s center console, where he found a plastic baggie with blue pills inside it. According to his report, Salazar believed the pills were counterfeit fentanyl pills. Once he found the pills, Salazar detained Chiapetti and placed him in the back of his patrol car.
Salazar continued searching the SUV and found a M&P Shield 9MM pistol under the center console. He also found a bag of meth in the car and more blue pills, which he identified as Xanax.
Salazar took the money that Chiapetti had on him and put it with the drugs as evidence. Chiapetti had almost $5,000 on him, along with almost 40 grams of counterfeit fentanyl, 28.4 grams of meth, and 15.4 grams of Xanax.
Chiapetti was charged with three counts of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of illegally possessing a firearm. His preliminary examination is scheduled for April 13.
NAP TIME ENDS IN JAIL TIME
Gallup, March 23
A man from Ramah N.M. was trying to find a place to sleep when he chose to trespass onto a trucking distribution center.
On March 23, around 8:38 am, Gallup Police Officer Nicole Diswood was dispatched to Villanueva Distributing, LLC, 107 Dean St. The caller reported that someone was trespassing at their business.
When Diswood arrived, she met with the owner of the center, who said he got to work and saw that the corner of his business’s fence had been cut, and he found a man sleeping in a red car that was parked in his lot.
According to her report, Diswood woke up the man, who was later identified as Andre D. Williams, 34. He said that he found the hole in the fence, and discovered the car was unlocked so he hopped in for a warm place to crash.
The officer told the business owner that Williams didn’t have any pliers or bolt cutters on him. That’s when the business owner went back to the red car and dug out some pliers.
Diswood tried to explain that it would be difficult to charge Williams with breaking and entering because of his story and the fact that he didn’t have the pliers on him when she found him. She did, however, tell the business owner that she would charge Williams with trespassing.
Metro Dispatch told Diswood that Williams had a warrant out for his arrest. She transported him back to the McKinley County Detention Center, where he was charged with trespassing. His pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 14.
