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Weekly Police Activity Report

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A man doing renovations discovered an unfamiliar firearm in the crawlspace of his home Jan. 16. When he went to secure the weapon, his 16-year-old relative arrived home and began to argue with him about taking the gun. The argument escalated and the teenager snatched the gun, then fled from the residence with his friend.

McKinley County Sheriff’s Officers arrived to the scene just after 4 pm. Dep. Brandon Salazar was given information from the suspect’s family about where he might have gone, but was he was unable to locate him. The family grew uncooperative as the investigation continued, according to the police report, and police presently have no further information about the crime.

Two strange individuals were looking inside of cars around Bishop Drive Jan. 13. MCSO Dep. Roxanne Slim met up with the man in the area who called in the report, who had left his car unlocked and was missing a green Royby saw from his backseat. Nothing else appeared to be stolen, and no other cars in the area were affected.

An accident on Highway 371 Jan. 13 left two cars with heavy damage. Around 7:30 pm, the driver of the second car allegedly did not stop at a stop sign, and the two slammed into each other repeatedly. All the occupants of the cars were ok, but did sustain injuries.

A 67-year-old man was on his way to breakfast the morning of Jan. 13 when he discovered his black Chevrolet had gone missing from West Green Avenue. Thieves also stole his workbag out of another vehicle. The cars had both been left unlocked the night before.

A grim scene met officers earlier in the morning on Jan. 16. At around 10:22 am, MCSO Deputies found the body of a deceased man on the 20 block of Dusty Road, lying under a tree. Officers found two packages of meat and a loaf of bread beside the body, along with two bottles of bourbon – one empty, the other half full.

The man was identified by his son as Hoskie Chee, 92, of Gallup. Chee’s son, 61, said he had been looking for him since the morning before.

According to the police report, Chee’s son told officers: “I told [Chee] to go back into the house, because it was cold. He just told me ‘I’m going to sit right here first.’… That was the last time I spoke to my dad.”

A supplemental police report also noted the temperature on the night of Chee’s death, which was 25 degrees just before midnight and 21 degrees just before 2 am.

MCSO Officers arrived on the scene in Gamerco Jan. 12, after a woman 61, reported her home was broken into. The woman identified a suspect for police, telling them “he was probably looking for money,” according to the report. While the victim did not have any video evidence of the likely suspect, she allegedly told officers he had a drug problem.

Although MCSO Dep. J. Todachine Jr. did later find evidence of drug paraphernalia in the suspect’s home and the suspect later admitted to breaking into the residence in order to secure money for drugs, officers were unable to make an arrest.

Another car theft took place on Jan. 11, this time on Lewann Drive. The woman lent her car to her daughter Adriana Estrada, 27, who took the car to Albuquerque. The woman’s other daughter informed her that Estrada was allegedly using the car to steal from other cars, and that she had stolen a gun and a stereo deck from a vehicle, according to the police report.

Officers located the car off of U.S. Highway 491, with Estrada inside. Another woman, Amanda Romero, 28, was in the driver seat. Romero was booked for possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and Estrada was arrested for unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.

A man pulled a knife out at Bishop Optical on South Second Street Jan. 11, bringing officers to the scene. By the time they arrived, the suspect was gone. Witnesses said that the business has had problems with the man in the past, and that they asked him to leave that day. Upon hearing this, the man became aggressive and took out his knife, telling one woman “I will stab you,” according to the police report.

Witnesses identified the man as Edward Perales, 56. After speaking to those on the scene, Perales walked by the store, and GPD Officer Norman Bowman was able to arrest him for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

MCSO Officers were sent to #12 Red Rock Ave in Thoreau Jan. 4 at roughly 10:46 am over reports of a break in. At the scene, MCSO Dep. Frank Villa Jr. met the victim, 85. The window to his art gallery in Thoreau was broken, and some pieces of pottery were stolen. Villa found a rock that was used to shatter the window and allow the burglar entry. The victim further told Villa about other pieces of art that had been stolen.

A neighbor walked over to scene and asked about what had happened. When the victim explained the situation, the neighbor, 38, said he thought he might know who was responsible. He left and then returned, telling Villa that he saw the man he believed to be responsible walking a short ways away, carrying items in a bag.

Villa caught up to Duane Yazzie, 47, and discovered that the suspect did, in fact, have the stolen property inside of his bag. According to the prices listed on the police report, the total amount of property stolen was valued at $10,000. Unfortunately for the victim, the total amount recovered only came to $3,500.

Yazzie was booked for burglary and possession of stolen property.

Staff Reports