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Weekly Police Activity Reports

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A school thief

April 30, Tse Bonito

When William Nass, the principal at the Hilltop Christian School in Tse Bonito, came to work at the start of the school week the first thing he noticed was that the office door was unlocked.

That alone was not unusual because the door is often kept unlocked so teachers can come in and use the printer. But once Nass got to his office, he noticed that things had been scattered and some of the cabinet file drawers were open.

He then checked the school’s safe and found that had been broken into and $600 in cash and two iPads were missing.

He called the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office and when deputies showed up, he told them what he found, saying that the building is left unlocked on Sundays because a church group uses one of the rooms.

Deputies looked around and could find no indication of a forced entry, so it seemed likely that the person or persons responsible for the theft came in through the front door. At the present time, there are no suspects.

Jaywalking through life

April 26, Gallup

Everyone does it—crossing the street without going to the corner—and almost always it leads to nothing more than a faster way to get from point A to point B.

But when Vernell Watchman did, he wound up charged with numerous crimes including assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, and concealing his identity. And, of course, crossing a street at other than a crosswalk.

For Watchman, 39, of Gallup, his misfortune was in trying to cross 1st Street from the alleyway in front of Andrew Thayer, a Gallup Police Officer. Thayer said that when Watchman crossed the street, he did so into oncoming traffic, forcing Thayer to hit his brakes hard to keep from striking him.

Watchman made it to the other side without injury but Thayer stopped and confronted him. When he did, he immediately took notice of Watchman’s red, watery eyes, and noticed the smell of alcohol coming from him.

Thayer said he told Watchman he was being detained and started to lead him back to his unit. Instead of cooperating, Watchman made several attempts to pull away, according to the police report, and had to be told again he was being detained.

Thayer said when he started searching him for any hidden weapons Watchman continued to fight and began yelling, “Why am I under arrest.”

Thayer said he grew worried by Watchman’s behavior, and that he may have a weapon or attempt to strike him, so he took him to the ground and put handcuffs on him.

“Watchman rolled on his back and continued to ignore my orders,” said Thayer.

By this time, backup had arrived and the officers managed to place handcuffs on Watchman as he continued yelling that he was going to “kick my ass” and was going to kill me, said Thayer.

During the search for weapons, police found a glass smoking tube with residue and burn marks in one of his pockets. The pipe had been broken during the struggle.

Thayer said he then asked Watchman several times what his name was and only received profanity and “ask your mother” as a reply. When Thayer threatened him with a concealing identity charge, he still refused to cooperate.

It wasn’t until they got to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center that jailers recognized Watchman and informed Thayer of his name.

A familiar face

April 25, Gamerco

Brandon Largo’s problem was that he had previous encounters with local police—so his face was recognizable to many of them.

So when MCSO Dep. Frank Villa Jr. saw him driving on China Loop Road in Gamerco, he decided to pay attention to the vehicle he was driving.

What first got his interest, said Villa, was that at first Largo, 25, of Crownpoint, was in front of him and then he slowed down so he ended up behind Villa’s police unit. When that happened, Villa said he slowed down to get behind Largo but Largo slowed down even more.

Villa finally pulled into the median and when Largo passed him, got behind him and called in the license plate of the vehicle Largo was driving. Metro Dispatch informed him that the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Albuquerque.

When Largo pulled into the Safeway parking lot off of
U. S. 491, Villa did a traffic stop and asked Largo to come back to his unit, at which point he told him the car he was driving had been reported as being stolen.

Largo said the vehicle belonged to his girlfriend but was unable to tell Villa his girlfriend’s last name, where she lived, or her phone number. He said they had just started dating.

Villa said when he looked into the vehicle, he discovered that the ignition key was for a Chevy and the vehicle was a Hyundai and the ignition had been changed so that any key would start it.

When Largo was taken to the county jail for processing, Villa learned that he had been arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle back in February and was out on bail for that charge.

Villa said he also learned later that the vehicle Largo was driving was a Hertz rental that had been stolen April 17 in Albuquerque. Hertz said they would send an employee to Gallup in three to five days to pick up the vehicle.

A break-in of a tax nature

April 24, Tse Bonito

MCSO deputies are investigating a break-in that occurred either April 24 or 25 at the Liberty Tax Service.

Brandy Sanchez, a tax specialist for the company, told deputies that when she came to work on April 25, she found the lights would not turn on. She then looked around and discovered that the company’s television set was missing.

She checked the money drawer and found it was locked. When she opened it, however, she found the money that had been inside of it was missing.

She then noticed that the office window was broken and had been pushed up. Some snacks that had been placed on the window ledge were also missing, as well as a couple of checks that an employee had failed to pick up.

MCSO Dep. Jeff Barnhurst said when he did an inspection he found that the brakes in the power box had been turned off, which disabled the alarm.

There are no suspects at this time.

Just visiting

April 23, Aztec Avenue

Randy Morris is now facing felony burglary charges after he reportedly broke into rooms at two local motels.

GPD Officer Justin Foster said he was first dispatched to the Best Western Inn at 910 E. Aztec ave. around 1:30 am.

Foster was told the tenant in room 112 returned to his room to find a stocky Caucasian male inside of it. The man, later identified as Morris, 42, of Grants, asked him he if he had a phone charger.

The man said no and told Morris to get out of his room, which he did, heading east on Aztec Avenue. Foster said he went out looking for the man with no success.

Just after 2 am, Foster received another call, this time from the El Rancho motel, where a tenant said his room had been broken into. Foster went to that area to search for Morris. He found him near the El Rancho and placed him under arrest.

When asked about the break-ins, Morris claimed he had been invited into the room at the Best Western and that he was trying to get into the room occupied by his girlfriend at the El Rancho.

Foster said that while interviewing Morris, he observed that he was under the influence of a narcotic. When patted down, Morris was found to have an empty syringe sticking out of his front pocket. At the jail, a detention officer found a gum wrapper in another pocket. Inside the wrapper was what Foster said appeared to be methamphetamine.

He was booked on charges of breaking and entering and bringing contraband into places of imprisonment.

Doing things the hard way

4/19, Gallup

Most people who are arrested for having an outstanding warrant go quietly to jail—but not Brian Hoskie.

GPD Officer Andrew Thayer said he was dispatched to BPL Plasma, 1706 South Second St., because of a report of a man being disorderly.

When Thayer got there, he was told the man, who was identified as Hoskie, 29, of Brimhall, had already left. When he checked with Metro Dispatch, he learned Hoskins had an outstanding warrant.

Thayer managed to find Hoskie at the Cedar Hills Plaza and placed him under arrest for the outstanding bench warrant. But instead of complying, Hoskie began yelling that he knew his constitutional rights as well as the First Amendment.

Thayer said Hoskie appeared to be highly intoxicated and was placed in handcuffs.

When he was taken to the police unit, Hoskie continued yelling about how white people were racist, falling to the ground and bashing his head against the concrete. He refused medical treatment.

Once at the jail, he told Thayer to take off his handcuffs as well as his badge so the two of them could settle things.