Christopher Lee

May 3, 7:55 am

Aggravated DWI

Gallup Police Officer Aaron Baldonado said he was dispatched to a motel on West Lincoln Avenue after the manager reported a domestic dispute.

He said he went to the room and found Lee with no clothes on. The room was trashed and the manager said he wanted Lee, 27, of Window Rock, and his girlfriend evicted from the room. The two gathered their belongings and went to their car and left.

They were stopped by another police officer after they had driven a short distance. Lee agreed to take the standard field sobriety tests and failed as he became verbally aggressive when he was unable to follow directions, Baldonado said.

Lee...

The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office has released information about a body found east of the Gallup Flea Market.

The body was that of Herbert Tom, 53, of Lukachukai.

Tom had been reported missing since December by the Chinle Police Department and was found by people walking in the area on May 3.

Merle Bates, head of investigations for the Sheriff’s Office, said the body had probably been there for some time and was badly decomposed, so much so that it was impossible to determine a cause of death.

“We’re hoping to learn more when an autopsy is done,” he said. The body has been sent to the Office of Medical Examiners in Albuquerque for an autopsy.

The FBI announced last week that agents have finally been able to track down a Shiprock man who was being sought for hitting a BIA Police Officer who was trying to get him to exit his vehicle.

A press release from the FBI said the incident occurred near the Shiprock High School on Jan. 22. Two men, one a Navajo police officer and the other an official for the BIA, neither of whom were identified by name in court records, were driving on a service road near the high school when they came upon a car parked in the middle of the roadway.

They smelled the odor of marijuana being emitted from inside the vehicle.

The BIA official walked up to the driver’s side door and saw Derrick Begay...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Department of Health in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service reported 141 new cases of COVID-19 for the Navajo Nation, and a total of 127 deaths as of May 14. Preliminary reports from a few health care facilities indicate that approximately 515 individuals have recovered from COVID-19, with more reports still pending.

This week, the Navajo Epidemiology Center worked closely with healthcare providers to conduct a quality assurance assessment on the number of COVID-19 cases. Due to cross jurisdictional challenges and longer than normal verification processes, an additional 99 previously unreported...