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Large black trash bags, supposedly full of air were what greeted McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Salazar when he stopped a Toyota Sienna with a California license plate after the driver failed to maneuver to the left lane when passing a construction worker on the right shoulder of the highway at exit 33 on Interstate 40 eastbound Oct. 19.

When Salazar questioned the driver of the blue car, the answers he got didn’t make sense to him and seemed inconsistent. So, after the man later identified as Christopher Tucker, 38, of Amarillo, Tex., informed him the black trash bags were full of air, Salazar asked again. This time he phrased it differently. He asked Tucker how...

HAND SANITIZER INSTEAD OF BEER
Thoreau, Oct. 23

A man who entered the Speedway store in Thoreau before 3 am, couldn’t get the beer out of the refrigerator, so he took hand sanitizer instead. Julius Hoskie, 55, of Thoreau was upset about something when he approached the beer refrigerators and tried to open them.

The cashier saw him take two bottles of hand sanitizer and put them into his pockets and leave the store without paying. The cashier called 911 and McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Miguel Bittony drove to the store. He confirmed Hoskie matched the caller’s description and detained him while he spoke with the cashier about the incident.

Hoskie appeared intoxicated and...

Lucas Bowman
Oct. 18, 10:39 pm
Aggravated DWI (Second)

A driver called the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department after seeing a white Chrysler traveling over 100 mph and swerving on the road near Yatahey.

Deputy Johnson Lee responded to the call, but was unable to locate the car. Then as he began traveling south on U.S. Highway 491, he saw a vehicle matching the description driving south at a high rate of speed. Lee followed it as it turned west onto Highway 264 and continued speeding.

The Chrysler failed to maintain its lane and eventually turned onto the shoulder of Sagebrush Liquors without using a signal. Lee pulled over near the vehicle and saw the driver, identified as...

Staff Reports

McKinley County Sheriff's Deputy James Garylle was called to a fire on Interstate 40 late in the afternoon on Nov. 4 at the 5 mile marker westbound near the Arizona border.

A recreational vehicle was fully-engulfed and westbound traffic was reduced to a single lane.

The driver and his K-9 companion were not injured.