FRIDAY, JULY 13
A deputy spoke with a man who reported that he had an accident on his ATV two months prior to the call, and that the state patrol declined to come out and take a report. A report needed to be taken for the mans insurance company due to the seriousness of the mans injuries. He had been traveling on a county road on his ATV, and as he was passing a residence, a dog belonging to his neighbor ran from that property into the street and directly at the ATV. The dog then jumped into the ATV, causing the driver to lose control and crash, incurring numerous serious injuries.
MONDAY, JULY 23
A deputy was dispatched to speak with a reporting party in reference to items stolen from her residence. A woman found that her turquoise squash blossom necklace was missing, valued at $700. She felt that there was a possibility that her granddaughter, who had been staying with her for the past three months, had stolen the necklace, as she is the only person who knew where she kept it. She had confronted her granddaughter about the missing jewelry and told her that she did not want her to live with her anymore. Though she had not been in contact with her since that time, she thought that the granddaughter had been coming back into the house to get the rest of her belongings. She was unable to give any other evidence that the granddaughter stole the necklace.
A deputy was dispatched to the landfill in reference to a trespass in progress. Two employees there said that had seen an SUV parked outside the gate after it was closed and locked, and went in to check the property since they had been having trouble with trespassers. They observed a male subject on the landfills security cameras, sorting through landfill property. The subject was contacted by three deputies as he tried to get into his vehicle. The subject was cooperative, and told them that he brought his dog fairly often to go for a walk and to salvage what he could from the landfill, and didnt think it was a big deal. He also stated that there were other people who do the same thing and take more valuable items, but that he didnt do that. He refused to give more information on who else did it, saying that he wasnt a rat or a hypocrite, and he didnt remember. He had accumulated a number of items in a plastic trash can that he pushed around in a stroller, and when he saw deputies parked outside, he hid the stroller with the items into a septic access tube and hurried to his vehicle. The items he had accumulated were estimated to have a total value of around $100, and the subject was charged with trespassing and theft. The subject also appeared to be one of two persons who had been seen on the landfills surveillance video trespassing several weeks ago, but claimed that he couldnt remember to each question he was asked in regards to that incident.
TUESDAY, JULY 24
A deputy on patrol in Cortez observed a pickup truck towing a trailer with a car on it. Neither the trailer nor the car had illuminated lights. The deputy pulled over the truck after it made a turn onto a side street without using a turn indicator. An inspection of the trailer revealed that there was no functional electrical wiring in the trailer. The driver of the truck, a 19-year old with a New Mexico license, turned out to be driving under the influence of alcohol. He was charged with underage consumption of alcohol and with DUI and left in the care and custody of jail staff.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
A deputy traveling south on Hwy. 160 observed a vehicle in front of him with an unreadable license plate, and also witnessed the car cross over the highways fog line and center yellow line into the oncoming lane multiple times. The deputy activated his flashing lights, and the vehicle pulled over and stopped. When the deputy put his patrol vehicle in park in order to contact the suspect, the subject accelerated away quickly. The deputy radioed that the vehicle was running away, from him and pursued the car with lights and sirens activated, at speeds ranging from 85 mph, up to 95 mph, and then up to 100 mph. The subject vehicle continued south with its right turn indicator still blinking, and would not stop. Approximately 3 miles later, the subject turned east off the highway and accelerated down a gravel road, and the deputy observed as it ran off the road twice and then struck a post. It got back on the road and traveled on, then turned into a driveway and pulled up to a residence and stopped. The deputy pulled his weapon; the driver ignored all commands, and started walking up to the residence and trying to get the door open. The deputy pushed the suspect off the porch and onto the ground and held him there, radioing for BIA officers to also respond to the scene. While waiting for backup, the subject stated Im on the reservation, you cant touch me and I wasnt going to stop because I am drunk and dont want to go to jail. The suspects drivers license came back as revoked. When BIA officers arrived, the subject was turned over to them, and was charged with several federal crimes. The deputy obtained an arrest warrant for vehicular eluding/causing substantial risk and for driving on a revoked drivers license. The suspension also had two active case numbers associated with it, plus three additional active case numbers. The male subject put several other peoples lives at substantial risk due to traveling under the influence and at such high rates of speed in the opposite direction of traffic. There were several empty beer bottles in the car as well as an unopened box of beer found in the backseat.
