Valerie James-Antonio
Aug. 14, 11:36 pm
Aggravated DWI

On his way out of the El Rancho Hotel, Gallup Police Officer Julio Yazzie saw a tan pick-up truck driving the wrong way on the street. The truck turned west onto Aztec Avenue from Ford Drive and then into the eastbound turn lane while going westbound. Yazzie got behind the truck after it returned to the westbound lane. Then, after it turned north onto Navajo Drive, he conducted a traffic stop near the curb.

He met the driver, Valerie James-Antonio, 46, of Gallup. Antonio told Yazzie she was following her uncle in the truck in front of her. Yazzie noted she had bloodshot eyes and looked as if she spilled a drink on the front of her...

A chase near downtown Gallup and into a nearby neighborhood led to several juveniles being pulled over and one getting charged.

Gallup Police were having a briefing near downtown early on Aug. 13 when Officer Julio Yazzie spotted a white Toyota RAV4 traveling south on Third Street at a high rate of speed with several people hanging out of the windows.

Yazzie got to his unit and followed the SUV onto Mesa Avenue and then Fourth Street, where he found the vehicle near the intersection of Morgan Avenue. He pulled over near the SUV and found several people inside. As Yazzie activated his unit’s emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, the Toyota took off on Fourth Street.

Multiple...

Gallup firefighters battled a blaze Oct. 18 at FASSCO Auto Repair, 105 Mine Run St.

Fire Deputy Chief Nathan Emerson said the call came in around 3:11 pm and all stations within the city responded, as well as off-duty firefighters.

Emerson explained that there was an explosion at the repair shop, and it took until sometime between 6:30 pm and 7 pm to extinguish all of the hotspots in the area.

He described the roof of the body shop as compromised, and the building itself as "totaled." He also said there were two vehicles parked in the two bays inside the repair shop that may have escaped fire damage.

The nearby Burger King was advised to shut down due to smoke. It has since reopened...

CIBOLA COUNTY — The New Mexico State Police was alerted about a motorcycle crash on BIA Road 125 near Milepost 2, south of Ramah on Oct. 16 around 5 pm.

The initial investigation showed that a 2017 Kawasaki motorcycle being driven by George W. McBeath, 82, of Pinehill, N.M., left the roadway and crashed.

McBeath, who was wearing a helmet, suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alcohol was not a factor in this incident.

The crash is under investigation by the New Mexico State Police.