Threatening letter slipped under door of prez’s office

 

N avajo Police are investigating a threatening letter sent to President Joe Shirley Jr.

The exact nature of the threat was not made public but police said the letter, enclosed in an envelope, was found on the morning of Oct. 10 by a receptionist in the president's office who noticed it on the floor near the main entrance.

Police said it was slipped under the door during the previous night.

The receptionist opened it and then notified the police.

While it had no signature, it was signed "Friends of the Council." Shirley and members of the Navajo Nation Council have been at odds with each other in recent months over the issue of reform.

While it's not unusual for verbal threats to be made against the president or other elected leaders, police officials said this is the first time that they have seen a threatening letter to the president in a long while.

The letter has been turned over to the tribe's Criminal Investigations Department.

Checkpoints planned

The occurrence of several highway accidents with major injuries and fatalities over the Thanksgiving weekend has prompted law enforcement to make plans for an increased police presence on the roads during the upcoming Christmas and New Year's Eve holidays.

Lt. Tulley Jim, head of the Select Traffic Enforcement Program, said motorists can expect to see sobriety checkpoints throughout the Navajo Nation.

"We plan to concentrate on those roads where accidents are happening," he said.

The No. 1 priority will be to patrol State Highway 264 between Window Rock and Ganado, followed by U.S. 160 in the Tuba City area. The third priority will be in the Crownpoint and Mariano Lake, N.M., area, followed by U.S. 491 between Shiprock and Yah-Ta-Hey, N.M.

He said these roads all see increased accidents during holidays and snowstorms.

Reservation roads received the first snow of the season on Monday night and Jim said by Tuesday police were seeing accidents along the roads to Window Rock because of icy conditions.

Most of these accidents could have been avoided, he said, by drivers being a little more patient and not trying to hurry to get too work.

"You would be better off by leaving 10 minutes earlier on normal days so you don't have too rush or an hour if the weather is bad," he said.

Alcohol involved in Toyei crash

A two-vehicle accident Dec. 2 on State Highway 264 near Toyei, Ariz., resulted in injuries to a couple in one of the vehicles.

Police reported that Remarah Nelson, 20, and Lanted Lee Haskie, 25, were driving westbound on the road at about 6:30 a.m.

According to the police report, they were "both intoxicated and fighting inside the vehicle" when the vehicle made a sudden left turn into the path of an oncoming car.

The Nelson-Haskie vehicle also contained three children in the backseat.

The police report did not go into the extent of injuries to people in either vehicle. It also did not list the driver of the second vehicle.

The report did say that one of the passengers in the Nelson-Haskie vehicle had to be extricated by firefighters.

Charges are pending.

Wreck claims 2 lives near TC

A Dec. 4 accident on U.S. 160 near Tuba City has left two people dead. They were identified by police as Rio Begay, 41, of Newcomb, N.M., and Raymond Begay, 43, of Shiprock.

According to police, the head-on collision happened about 6:20 a.m. when the driver of a pickup, identified as Chad Zanca, 22, of Carefree, Ariz., was attempting to pass another vehicle and pulled in front of the Begay vehicle.

Police said three other passengers in the Begay vehicle had to be extricated and were taken to the hospital in Tuba City for treatment. Their names were not released.

Alcohol linked to fatal rollover

A one-vehicle rollover claimed one life Dec. 3 near Torreon, N.M., five miles north of the Whitehouse Lake Chapter House on BIA Route 9.

The driver of the vehicle, Albert Yazzie, 45, of Cuba, N.M., was ejected from the vehicle and received massive head injuries, dying at the scene.

Police said the accident occurred about 7 a.m. when Yazzie apparently drove off the shoulder of the road and then lost control of the car. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Police said alcoholic beverages were found at the scene.

Freak accident kills teen

A Cameron, Ariz., teen was killed while apparently trying to change a tire Dec. 5, police report. The victim was identified as Ferlene Marcinda Sloan, 18.

Police said they received a call from a truck driver who reported seeing a car stopped along U.S. 89 near Gap, Ariz.

The victim had apparently jacked up the right side of the vehicle when the jack collapsed, pinning her underneath.

Sometime after that an unknown person came by and attempted to help, resetting the jack and sliding her out from under the car, police said.

Sloan was being prepared for helicopter transport to a hospital when emergency medical personnel said they could no longer detect her breathing.

None injured in oilfield fire

Police report a pipeline fire occurred Nov. 30 on County Road 457 near Montezuma Creek, Utah.

Officers were called to the scene about 10:21 p.m. when someone reported that a pipeline near a Resolute Gas and Oil Co. well site was on fire.

By the time police arrived there, firefighters and workers for the company had the fire under control.

Safety Inspector Andorra Holly said an air compressor went out due to an electrical failure, leading to a build-up of gas in the flarestack and a heavy gas stench in the vicinity.

Police said there were no injuries and added that fires like this occur "every once in a while" in the area, which is located in the Aneth oilfield.

Alcohol cited in stabbing

A Dilkon, Ariz., man was stabbed Dec. 1 in a dispute with his girlfriend.

Police said they received a call about 9:36 a.m. about a stabbing that occurred at Lucy Lester's residence, about a mile north of the Basha's in Dilkon.

The caller, Clarissa Judy, 25, of Dilkon, told police she had stabbed her boyfriend, Brent Wallace Mosbarger, 24, of Dilkon, and he was bleeding heavily.

Judy also told police that the two were drinking when they got into a fight and she stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife.

Mosbarger was not at the scene when police arrived but later came to the Dilkon police station.

"The victim was very belligerent," said the police report, but he did agree to be taken to the Tuba City hospital and then airlifted to the Flagstaff Medical Center for treatment of a 1-inch laceration in his upper chest area.

4 arrested in Shiprock break-ins

Navajo Police in Shiprock arrested two juveniles and two adults on Dec. 2 in connection with the break-in of three stores that night in the Shiprock area.

Police first got wind of the break-ins about 3:20 a.m. when the alarm at the north side 7-11 convenience store when off. Shortly thereafter, the alarm at the nearby Red Mesa Express convenience store went off. Later, they discovered that the south side 7-11 had also been broken into.

When police arrived at the south side site, they discovered a broken window and a cracked front door. They also found some tobacco products on the ground.

A patrol of the area found four suspects about a quarter mile east of the store. In the pocket of one of the four police found tobacco products similar to the ones found at the scene of the break-in.

Police later discovered that all of the suspects had been at all three break-in sites that night.

Arrested were a 17-year-old juvenile, a 15-year-old juvenile and two adults. The adults were identified as Diedra Smith, 18, and Lex Blueeyes, 19, both of Shiprock.

Police said alcohol was involved.

Shiprock man found dead

Police are investigating the death of a 20-year-old man whose body was found Nov. 7 about a quarter mile west of milepost 96 on U.S. Highway 491 near Shiprock.

Police said that Darrel Brandon Shorthair of Shiprock had been reported missing two days earlier. His body was discovered by Jonas Kody, who called police.

The report had no details on the cause of death or whether foul play is suspected. The case has been turned over to CID for investigation.

Torreon man shot in head

A Torreon, N.M., man was shot in the back of the head during a Nov. 18 incident in Torreon.

Police said they received a phone call about 7 p.m. reporting that Mathias Cahucha, 20, and Mabelle Johnson, 21, both of Torreon, were being chased by Waylon Castillo, 23, and Willie Castillo Jr., 20, also of Torreon, as they were heading to their residence.

When they got to the residence, Willie Castillo reportedly used a .22 caliber rifle to shoot Cahucha in the back of the head. The bullet exited below the nose.

Cahucha was transported to Albuquerque for treatment.

The suspects were still at large at the time of the report.

Child severely injured in fire

A Dec. 8 house fire in Leupp, Ariz., seriously injured family members.

Police said Ladonnarose Riggs, no age give, was in her house in the Navajo Housing Authority complex with her three children when the fire began in the early morning hours.

Riggs was awakened by her 3-year-old and found the house filled with thick smoke. She was able to get her 5-year old to crawl to her and she then ran to where her 2-year-old was sleeping.

Riggs was able to get all three children out of the house but the 2-year-old sustained third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, according to the police report. The toddler was transported by airplane to Phoenix for treatment.

Riggs herself suffered from burns on her hands and forearms.

The Leupp Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire but not before the entire interior of the house was destroyed.

Police said that the grandmother told them that the 3-year-old admitted to her that he was playing with fire before the fire began.

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