Alcohol involved in TC misadventure

Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK, Dec. 18, 2008

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(Times photo – Donovan Quintero)

Sgt. Wallace Billie and another Navajo Police officer knock on a door while responding to a man-with-a-knife call Saturday night in Klagetoh, Ariz. After searching the house they did not make any arrests.

Navajo Police report that a strange vehicle pursuit occurred on Dec. 11 in the Tuba City area.

It began about 8:40 p.m. when police were told a green SUV had hit another car just south of Van's Trading Post. When police arrived at the scene, they found Tyrone Tohonnie, 29, of Tuba City, who was listed in the police report as a victim.

He was placed in the back of the SUV but as police turned around, the car began moving away at a high rate of speed eastbound on U.S. Highway 160.

The driver was identified as Rue Denetdeal, 37, of Tuba City.

The vehicle was finally stopped on Navajo Route 6262 near milepost 342 but not before Denetdeal allegedly ran a red light and almost hit another car head-on.

Police said alcohol was involved.

DWI involved in Newcomb double fatality

A head-on collision Dec. 9 near Newcomb, N.M., claimed the lives of a Newcomb couple on their way home from Christmas shopping.

Their 4-year-old son, who was in a child restraint seat in the back, was critically injured but recovered after being airlifted to Shiprock for treatment.

Police said two men from Washington, D.C., John Omsted and John Porter, said they were traveling northbound on U.S. 491 near Newcomb when they noticed the vehicle traveling behind them weaving in and out of the lane into the southbound lane.

They saw the vehicle go into the southbound lane and collide nearly head-on with a southbound vehicle.

Ilene Gould, 34, a passenger in the car traveling south, died on impact. The driver, Arnold Gould, 42, died on the way to the hospital.



Their son Lance received massive head injuries and was later transferred to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque where he was reported Tuesday to be in serious but improved condition.

The driver of the pickup that caused the collision, Sterling Hoskie, 38, of Naschitti, N.M., was not injured seriously in the accident. He was charged with DWI by Navajo police at the scenes and now faces two federal charges of vehicular homicide and assault causing serious bodily harm.

Scottsdale man sentenced for assault

PHOENIX - James Spotted-Hawk Miles, 32, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Tribe, was sentenced Dec. 15 to 10 years in federal prison.

Miles pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2008, to assault with a dangerous weapon.

On Nov. 23, 2007, on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation, Miles purchased methamphetamine from his 34-year-old victim, also a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Tribe.

After testing the meth, Miles determined the meth was of poor quality and, with a handgun, confronted the victim about the quality of the meth. The victim fled into an agricultural field with Miles in pursuit.

Miles eventually caught the victim and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, Miles shot and wounded the victim. Miles then fled the area, but was later apprehended by law enforcement after a high speed vehicle pursuit. The victim was hospitalized but recovered from his wounds.

Man who bit earlobe off sentenced

PHOENIX - Jerimie T. Riggs, 22, of Bitter Springs, Ariz., near Page, Ariz., was sentenced Dec. 15 to 36 months in federal prison followed by placement in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program while on three years of supervised release. Riggs pleaded guilty on May 13, 2008 to assaulting a male relative on the Navajo Nation.

Riggs was very intoxicated when he assaulted a male family member by biting off his earlobe. Family members collected the earlobe and took it to the Flagstaff Medical Center where doctors unsuccessfully tried to reattach it.

Fort Defiance man sentenced for assault

PHOENIX - Nelson Holland, 25, from the Fort Defiance area, was sentenced Dec. 15 to 18 months in federal prison followed by a one-year placement in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program while on three years of supervised release.

Holland pleaded guilty on June 9, 2008, to assaulting an elderly victim on the Navajo Nation by beating him with a garden hose. The incident occurred after Holland, who was intoxicated, claimed he was being "witched" by the victim.

Ak-Chin man gets 10 years for assault

PHOENIX - Michael Luz, 28, of Maricopa, Ariz., was sentenced Dec. 8 to 10 years in federal prison for committing domestic violence against two women.

He was also sentenced to 57 months for an earlier conviction, with the sentences to run concurrently.

On April 21 Luz pled guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury in connection with the beating of his then girlfriend in April 2007. During the assault, Luz forced the victim into her vehicle and drove her away from a party. While in the vehicle, Luz hit her in the face several times, then took her to his home where he continued to beat her and then made her clean up her own blood.

He kicked her several times causing severe bruising to her torso. Because she was in a great deal of pain, she took a large amount of over-the-counter pain medication, which ultimately caused acute hepatitis, and liver and kidney failure.

After his arrest for that beating, Luz was released pending trial.

On June 1, a few weeks after his guilty plea in that case, police responded to Luz's home again, based upon calls about a screaming woman and child. When police arrived, they heard a woman and child screaming.

Police entered the home and found Luz's new girlfriend bloody and naked in the shower. The woman's toddler was also bloody and naked, screaming and clutching her mother. Luz, also naked, yelled at police for entering his home.

Upon interviewing the second victim, police learned that Luz had punched her in the face several times. The victim tried to escape by getting into her vehicle with her child. Luz pulled her out of the vehicle, threw her on the ground and continued to beat her. The toddler was present during the beating and screamed hysterically.

Luz took the victim into the home and ordered her and her child to take a shower, at which point the police arrived and arrested him.

Based upon the new offense, the defendant's release was revoked regarding the assault of the first victim.

Shortly after the beating incident, the second victim indicated that she did not want her case prosecuted. She said she loved Luz and did not want him to be punished for his conduct. Luz nevertheless was charged for assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and convicted.

He was sentenced 57 months in the first case and 120 months in the second case.

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