Man charged with stealing police vehicle

The first rule if you plan to steal a tribal police vehicle is: Be sure there are no police around.

That was Brandon Begay's downfall after he was arrested by Hopi Tribe police shortly after midnight March 27 outside the Toyei Travel Center just east of Tuba City.

Hopi and Navajo police had been called to the scene because of reports that a man was making a disturbance at the center, which is located on Hopi land. When they got there, the suspect was identified as Begay, 23, of Tuba City.

After he had been placed inside a police vehicle, he managed to kick the window out and climb out. He then got into a Navajo police vehicle parked nearby, and sped off through the parking lot toward U.S. Highway 160.

Before Begay got very far, however, he drove into a culvert. He attempted to continue, driving through a ravine, but finally was forced to stop when one of his tires blew out.

The police vehicle sustained massive damage to its front end and undercarriage. Begay was arrested by Hopi police for vehicle theft and damage.

Steamboat death under investigation

Police are investigating what appears to be an exposure death in the Steamboat, Ariz., area, although they have not ruled out the possibility of foul play.

It began when police responded to a call about a body lying in the road. The victim, identified as Milton Begay, 30, of Steamboat, was found on the road without any clothes on.

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Police said there were signs near the body that indicated Begay had been crawling around before his death.

The FBI was contacted and an autopsy is being done to determine the cause of death.

Stabbing victim stays mum

A 29-year-old Ganado, Ariz., man was treated for two knife wounds at Sage Memorial Hospital after apparently getting in a fight.

Police were called to the hospital shortly after Stacey Bia, no age given, was admitted for knife wounds to the neck and lip area.

Police said Bia was "completely uncooperative and highly intoxicated" and wasn't saying about what happened to him that night. Police later learned that Bia had gotten into a fight with Travis Johnson, 25, address unknown, at the home of one of Bia's relatives.

The case is still under investigation.

Newborn death under scrutiny

Police are trying to determine who was responsible for burying a baby's body under a camper some 13 miles west of Jeddito Chapter.

The incident began March 9 when a woman called the Dilkon police station and reported that a young woman in the area had just given birth and the baby was dead.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the remains of an infant underneath a camper located about 100 feet from the main house.

The witness told police she found the infant buried under a thin covering of dirt as she was cleaning up a large amount of blood near the camper.

Police have listed a 17-year-old woman as a suspect, along with 19-year-old J. Cepi of Jeddito, Ariz. No arrests have been made in the case so far.

Window Rock man stabbed

A Fort Defiance man is being investigated for aggravated battery because of a stabbing incident that occurred March 7 just west of Church's Fried Chicken in Window Rock.

The victim was identified as Taylor Johnson, 28, of Window Rock. According to police he had been stabbed twice with a sharp-edged object that punctured his lung and damaged his spleen. He was flown to Flagstaff for treatment.

Police list Gabriel Benally, 21, as a person of interest in the case.

Fire destroys Fruitland house

A fire destroyed the home of a Fruitland, N.M., family on March 17.

Police were called to the home of Daisy and Thomas Houser, located just north of Morgan Lake, about 6 a.m.

When they arrived, the south end of the house was engulfed in flames and the roof on the north end was on fire. Family members were outside the house trying to douse the flames with water from a garden house but police forced them to stop and move a safe distance away.

Police were told that Daisy Houser, 74, and Starlene Arviso, 57, had returned home in the early morning hours. Thomas Houser was already asleep.

Daisy Houser said she stoked the fire in the woodstove and then went to bed, only to be awakened a few hours later by crackling sounds.

She saw light underneath her bedroom door and when she opened it, flames flew into the room. By then Arviso and Thomas Houser had already been awakened by the noise as well and were trying to get out of the house.

Both Arviso and Daisy Houser managed to get out through the south end of the building while Thomas Houser was forced to break a window and crawl out.

Police said both Housers received some burns and were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The cause of the fire appears to be the stove. Police said a locking bolt was broken on the stove, which allowed embers to escape. Either the flames or the heat was able to transfer via defective vent piping through the wall, allowing the ceiling to catch on fire.

Toyei closure progressing

Navajo police officials are working to close the Navajo Nation Police Academy at Toyei, Ariz., by June 30.

Samson Cowboy, director of the tribe's Division of Public Safety, said the closure is going smoothly, at least from the police side, and by the deadline only a skeleton crew will remain there, mainly to oversee the records section.

Asbestos contamination is forcing the removal of the training facility and residents in the 152 housing units that are part of the Toyei complex, a former BIA boarding school.

Several of the residents have complained they aren't being given enough time to find alternative housing, but tribal officials say warnings about the asbestos problem and requirement to leave have been issued for the past several years.

For the foreseeable future, Navajo police recruits will be trained at police academies in Tucson and Phoenix and Cowboy said the academy administrative staff will be transferred to another location.

DPS hasn't decided whether to remove the asbestos and renovate the buildings at Toyei, or to tear them down and start all over again, he said.

The cost to remove the asbestos and renovate is expected to be in the $12 million range so tribal officials are leaning away from that option.

The main concern after June 30 will be preservation of police records that are housed at Toyei, some of which go back decades and are used on a daily basis. While some records are on computer, much are still on paper and irreplaceable, Cowboy said.

Bloomfield police substation coming

The Navajo Department of Public Safety is working with officials in San Juan County to set up a substation south of Bloomfield, N.M., in the next few months.

Samson Cowboy, director of the Navajo Nation's Division of Public Safety, said the county has agreed to provide a building in the Dzilth-Na-O-Dithle area. It would be shared by tribal, state and county police but the main tenant would be the tribal police, who will use the substation as a base for patrolling Navajo land in northern San Juan County.

The police department plans to assign one sergeant and four police officers to the substation when it opens this fall.

Cowboy said his office is working with the Navajo Housing Authority to secure tribal housing for the officers. He also pointed out that there is private housing available in the Bloomfield area as well.

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