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Weekly Police Activity Report

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A wild pursuit

5/5, U. S. Highway 491

A McKinley County deputy engaged in a pursuit of a suspect who may have been involved in a domestic dispute in his car, traveling at speeds of close to 120 mph on U. S. Highway 491.

MCSO Dep. Frank Villa said the incident began about 4:45 pm. Villa was at the Gallup Flea Market on another matter when he said he saw a woman trying to get out of a vehicle and screaming.

Before she could get out, the car left at a high rate of speed northbound on State Highway 608. Villa went in pursuit as the vehicle got onto U.S. Highway 491, going at speeds of up to 100 mph as he wove in and out of traffic, going onto the shoulder to get around cars and at one point getting into the median for the same reason.

Villa said he tried to get the vehicle’s license plate number but he saw it had no plate, he said he also tried to see what was happening in the vehicle but he couldn’t see anything because of the tint on the windows.

By this time, Villa said, the vehicle was traveling at a speed of 119 mph and they had reached the 20 mile marker. He said he was then advised to cancel the pursuit due to the fact there was no backup available from the Navajo Police Department.

The suspect car was never located.

 

Stolen checks

5/7, Gamerco

Officials at the Noble Finance Company had informed local law enforcement officials last week that some of their blank checks had been stolen.

MCSO Dep. Anthony Morales he was dispatched to a business on China Loop in Gamerco where a woman was attempting to cash one of the checks made out for $450.

The manager of the store said he had attempted to call the finance company to determine if the check was good but no one answered. When the manager told the woman he couldn’t cash it because the check had been reported as being stolen, the woman said she had a contract from the finance company in her car.

She said she would get it from the vehicle but when she left, she got inside her car and drove away. The female had given the store a fake name and social security number so she was not able to be located.

 

Hiding in plain sight

5/4, Gamerco

Sometimes people will do anything to keep from being arrested for an outstanding bench warrant—including hiding in the trunk of a car.

That is what happened when McKinley County Deputy Monty Yazzie was dispatched to the Ramirez Apartments in Gamerco because of a report of a man with a gun.

When he got there, he received a report of a man hunched down in front of one of the apartments and another man hiding in the trunk of a car in front of the apartments. The person in the trunk had his feet sticking out into the rear seat of the vehicle.

When everything was finally straightened out, two people were arrested for having outstanding warrants: Matthew Angel Sr., 31, of Gallup, and Janelle Trujillo, 32, of Gamerco, who was found standing in front of the apartments when deputies arrived on the scene.

 

Speeding, drinking, and POTATO CHIPS

5/1, north of Gallup

MCSO Dep. Lorenzo Guerrero said he was on patrol on May 1 traveling northbound on U. S. Highway 491 when he noticed a vehicle in the southbound lane traveling at a high rate of speed.

He activated his radar and clocked the vehicle going 70 mph in a 55 mile mph area. He then made a U-turn and did a traffic stop and went up to the driver, who was identified as Ty Yazzie, 22, of Yah-Ta-Hey.

Guerrero said when he went up to Yazzie, he saw him stuffing his face with potato chips and drinking big gulps of Gatorade. He said he could also smell the odor of intoxicating liquor coming from inside the vehicle.

Yazzie said he had not had anything to drink for several hours but Guererro noticed that Yazzie would not make eye contact with him.

Yazzie agreed to take the standard field sobriety tests but failed and was placed under arrest. He agreed to take a breath alcohol test but when it was given, he declined to take a breath, so Guerrero said he considered that a refusal to be tested so he was charged with an aggravated DWI, speeding, and having an open liquor container in his vehicle.

 

A shooting suspect

5/2, Gamerco

One of the scariest things for a police officer to do is to go into a house where the occupant has a gun and has already fired it.

But that is what happened when MCSO Dep. Anthony Morales was dispatched about noon to an address on Pillar Street in Gamerco with a report of a female in a car who had been shot at.

When he got to the area, Morales said he saw a car matching the description he had been given parked several doors down from where the incident had been reported. He said he also saw a bullet hole in the driver side window.

The woman inside the vehicle, Jennifer Sanchez, told Morales she had not been shot but her boyfriend did hit her on the back of the head.

She said she got into an argument with her boyfriend, identified as Julian Williams, 30, of Gallup. During the incident, she went out and got in her car and Williams followed her outside with a handgun and fired a shot through the window, missing her.

He ran back into the house and Sanchez said she drove her car in reverse several houses down while she waited for police to arrive.

Morales said he and other officers then set up a perimeter around the house and he began using his public address system to tell Williams to come out of the house with his hands up.

He said he made several attempts and Williams refused to come out, so he and the other officers made their way to the porch where they found the front door open. He said he looked into the house and saw a man with his back towards him and his head down on his hands at a table.

As another deputy covered him, Morales said he approached the man and saw a handgun under a black hat. He also saw several loose .45 rounds and a glass pipe with copper Brillo in it, the type used for the sale of narcotics.

Williams was placed under arrest without incident.

In searching the residence, police found two other individuals in a bedroom: Valerie Lujan-Jaramillo, 22, of Gallup, and Antonio Guerrero-Medina, 28, of Gamerco. Both had outstanding bench warrants so they were placed under arrest for those.

Williams was charged with shooting at an inhabited building, aggravated assault against a household member, and battery against a household member.

 

A son out of control

4/27, Gallup

A Gallup man is now facing several felony charges after his parents called Gallup police saying he had become violent after no one would take him where he wanted to go.

Gallup Patrolman DeWayne Holder said he was dispatched to a house on Monterey Drive in connection with a domestic dispute.

When he got there and when backup arrived, he talked to Doug Howes, who said his son, Ryan Howes, 35, of Gallup was in the house and he wanted him removed. He said that when no would agree to take him where he wanted to go, he became angry and began punching the walls and finally threatened him with two steak knives.

Police began calling to Ryan Howes in the house and telling him to come out. He refused to do so although he did open the garage door and then later the front door to look out at the officers before he finally came out to meet them.

He was placed under arrest for aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property, and assault against a household member.

He was then transported to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center where jailers said they could not come out for some reason.

Holder said they had to wait 20 minutes for a jailer to show up and during this time, Ryan Howes became very disorderly in the back of the police unit, kicking and beating against the plexiglass divider.

Holder said he called Metro Dispatch to get a jailer to come out because he needed assistance with his prisoner. No one came and Ryan Holder continued to yell, scream and kick. Holder then placed the handcuffs against the window sidebars and used leverage to bend the handcuffs, which led to him being charged with destruction of public property.

A jailer finally came out but because of the way Holder was acting, the jailer required police to get him a medical clearance before he could be booked into the jail. Once that happened he was booked into jail.