HANGING AROUND THE SCENE

1/16, GALLUP

A woman kicking back in her apartment watching some TV was startled when she heard knocking on her door. Wondering who could be calling on her at 6:30 pm, she turned off the tube and walked to her bedroom window. When she peeked out, she saw Gilbert Valdez, who was a perfect stranger to her.

She went to the front door and looked out the peephole, and that’s when she could hear Valdez reportedly shimmying her door handle, trying to get into the apartment. The woman grabbed a baseball bat and looked out the window, and noticed that he was gone. From there, she went outside and closed her gate. On her way back in she noticed that Valdez had...

The legal limit is .08

Rendell Benally

Dec. 30, 11:11 pm

Aggravated DWI

As McKinley County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Merlin Benally was working the DWI Task Force, heading south on N.M. 566, he came upon Rendell Benally, who crossed the white edgeline in his Dodge Durango, by about a foot, near the 2.5 mile marker.

Deputy Benally conducted a traffic stop on Rendell Benally, 32, who quickly apologized for his driving. The deputy could smell the odor of “intoxicating beverage” coming from the vehicle, and noted that Rendell Benally had bloodshot, watery eyes, and slurred his words.

He took the field sobriety tests and failed. Deputy Benally then conducted a search of...

The body of the deceased white female found about 100 yards west of the TA truck stop along West Historic Highway 66 has been identified, officials said. The body was discovered Jan. 11 at about 7:30 am by a passerby who notified police of the matter.

Capt. Marinda Spencer, public information officer with the Gallup Police Department, said the name of the female is Christine English, 40, of Yucaipa, Calif.

The cause of death has been recorded as undetermined, Spencer said, but a Facebook poster who left a message on the Gallup Sun website said the deceased was her daughter who was killed as the result of a hit-and-run.

A woman identifying herself as Earline Garrison Anderson asserted...

Decker: Investigations in place

Three deputies from the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of internal and external investigations.

McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker did not release the names of the deputies involved in a physical altercation at a house party at an address on or near West Hill Avenue in Gallup Jan. 6.

In explaining the matter, Decker said the incident stems from a Jan. 9 citizen complaint to McKinley County Sheriff Ron Silversmith. The citizen revealed that there was some kind of altercation involving at least one local deputy that sent an unknown young male to an Albuquerque hospital.

Decker did not...