Staff Reports
Tyler Thomas Begay
Feb. 21, 5:18 am
DWI
Gallup Police Department Officer Victor Madrid was dispatched to 3016 Belle Dr. after another officer reported a man throwing rocks at houses. Madrid encountered Begay, 25, at the scene, who was sitting in the driver seat of his car and appeared intoxicated, according to the police report. Begay admitted to drinking “three shots a while ago at the movies,” according to Madrid’s report. The officer could smell alcohol coming off of the man.
Madrid had Begay participate in field sobriety testing, in which he showed signs of intoxication. Madrid asked Begay if he had only had the shots to drink, and Begay then admitted to going to the Fire Rock Casino and drinking two cocktails.
Begay refused breath testing but consented to a blood test. He was transported to the medical center before being booked.
Kevin Bowman
Feb. 20, 5:34 pm
5th DWI, Aggravated
GPD Officer John Gonzales was informed of a drunk driver heading west on Aztec Avenue towards Second Street. Gonzales pulled over the driver, who he noticed was swerving and unable to maintain his lane, according to the police report. Gonzales encountered Bowman, 40, after Bowman pulled into the Goodyear parking lot. Bowman “stumbled toward [Gonzales],” and denied drinking any alcohol prior to driving.
Gonzales pointed out the bottle of vodka in Bowman’s passenger side seat, but Bowman said it was his sister’s. Bowman refused field sobriety and breath testing. At that point, Gonzales received notice that Bowman had four prior DWIs, and he received a warrant for his blood draw, before Bowman was booked.
Delmar Ralph Roanhorse
Feb. 18, 6:04 pm
1st DWI, Aggravated
GPD Officer Julio Yazzie arrived at 614 West Maloney Ave. after reports of an accident at that address. Yazzie spoke with one driver, Roanhorse, 23, who claimed he was the driver but that his brother grabbed the wheel and caused the crash, according to the police report. Roanhorse admitted to being drunk, and said he “would take the blame for what happened and did not want to get his brother in trouble.” When Yazzie tried to bring Roanhorse into his car, Roanhorse “was getting disorderly and [refused] to get back into the unit,” according to the police report.
Roanhorse blew a .21 and a .22 on his breath tests. He agreed to field sobriety testing, and showed signs of intoxication during them. He was booked following the failed sobriety testing.
Lionel Bahe
Feb. 17, 11:51 pm
DWI, Aggravated
GPD Officer Andrew Thayer arrived at the McDonald’s drive-thru after reports of an intoxicated driver there, who had traveled from 2009 W. Highway 66 to 220 Verdi Dr. while under the influence. Two witnesses on the road had called in the driver, Bahe, 37, who was failing to maintain lanes and nearly struck one of the witnesses. When Thayer caught up to Bahe at the McDonald’s, Bahe was unconscious behind the wheel, and appeared confused when he did wake up, according to the police report.
Thayer asked Bahe if he was alright, and Bahe said that he was, but had too much to drink, and accounted for five Bud Lights prior to driving, according to Thayer’s report. Bahe agreed to field sobriety testing and showed clear signs of intoxication. He blew a .22 twice on his breath test. Alcohol was also found in his car prior to booking.
Rolanda Tom
Feb. 16, 5:30 pm
1st DWI, Aggravated
GPD Officer Nicole Diswood said she was dispatched to the 3000 block of East Aztec Ave. to interview Tom, 40, of Window Rock, who had been stopped by another officer after a report was called in that she had been driving recklessly.
Tom admitted to drinking a pint of vodka before being stopped but when asked if she would take field sobriety tests, she refused. She also told Diswood that she refused to take breath alcohol test.
But as she was being transported to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center for booking, she said she changed her mind and agreed to take the breath test. The officer made a detour to the state police headquarters, where Tom took the test and posted samples of .28 and .27.
Katherine Nadine Smith
Feb. 15, 9:00 pm
1st DWI, Aggravated
McKinley County Sheriff Sgt. Tammy Houghtaling said she was traveling north on U.S. Highway 491 in the left lane when she noticed the pickup to her right beginning to drift into her lane, so she sped up to avoid being hit.
As she got past the pickup, Houghtaling saw that the driver’s side headlamp was not working properly so she slowed down. After the vehicle passed her, she conducted a traffic stop.
When she talked to the driver, Smith, 36, of Shiprock, she noticed signs that the driver was intoxicated. Smith told her that she and her boyfriend were going from Show Low, Ariz. to Shiprock and admitted having a drink about an hour earlier.
She also admitted going into the left lane and said she knew the headlamp was not working properly. She agreed to take the field sobriety tests and when she failed, she was arrested. Later she was given a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .27 and .26.
Benjamin Ahasteen
Feb. 15, 2:52 am
1st DWI, Aggravated
MCSO Dep. Johnson Lee was headed north on U. S. Highway 491 about 2:52 am when he noticed a car parked on the side of the road about three miles north of Gallup. As the driver exited the vehicle, Lee made a U-turn and was going back to the vehicle when Metro Dispatch informed him that the vehicle had just been involved in an accident.
When he reached the car, he saw the driver, Ahasteen, 29, of Gallup, sitting in the driver’s seat. Lee also noticed several shots of 99 Black Cherry, an alcoholic drink, on the floor next to him.
Lee said in his report that Ahasteen showed signs of being intoxicated as he got up and started walking around the car. Lee ordered him to stop but he kept on going so Lee said he grabbed his arm.
“He began to tense up and tried to pull his arms forward,” Lee said in his report. Lee said he grabbed his handcuffs and placed them on him and then put him in the backseat of his vehicle while he questioned a passenger in his vehicle who also appeared to be highly intoxicated and had to be awakened.
Lee took the female passenger to his unit and placed her in the backseat after having Ahasteen get out.
Ahasyeen admitted to having a couple of shots about four hours earlier in the evening. He agreed to take field sobriety tests but failed, and Lee arrested him. He later agreed to take a breath alcohol test and posted samples of .20 and .19.
He was also booked for having an outstanding bench warrant.
Darrell Davis
Feb. 14, 3:00 pm
1st DWI, Aggravated
GPD Officer Julio Yazzie was dispatched to an accident on U. S. Highway 491 at the intersection of West Jefferson Street. The vehicle involved in the accident was not there but Yazzie said he found it a little later in the parking lot of Castle Furniture, on 1308 Metro Ave.
When Yazzie came upon the vehicle, Davis was in the front passenger seat. Yazzie informed him he was under arrest for leaving the scene of an accident.
Since he showed signs of being intoxicated, Davis was taken to the state police headquarters where he posted two samples of .26.
Davis then agreed to take field sobriety tests but was unable to complete them because of reported problems with his knees.
Davis then informed Yazzie that he had not been driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. The driver had run off before police arrived.
Yazzie, however, went ahead and booked him on the aggravated DWI charge as well as careless driving, no driver’s license and failure to give an immediate notice of an accident.
