Cross Canyon man sought in crash

Navajo police are searching for a Cross Canyon, Ariz., man in connection with a hit-and-run that occurred near Kinlichee, Ariz., on July 26.

At 10:24 p.m. tribal police were called about a two-vehicle accident about five miles south of State Route 264 on Standing Chimney Road.

When they got to the scene, police only found one vehicle and were told that the driver of the other vehicle had fled the scene. The vehicle that was at the edge of the roadway had severe damage to the front end.

Two passengers in that car - Ferwin Begay 25, of Ganado, Ariz., and Delrira Tsosie, 36, of Kinlichee - were transported to a nearby hospital.

The driver, identified as Shawna Tsosie, no age or address given, refused medical treatment.

A police investigation revealed that their vehicle was going north while the other vehicle was going south. The southbound vehicle crossed the centerline and a collision ensued, police said.

The occupants of the first car identified the driver of the car that left the scene as Elroy Begay, 37, of Cross Canyon.

Police discovered that Begay and people in his vehicle had been consuming intoxicating liquor at a nearby windmill prior to the collision.

Police conducted a search of roads in the area in an attempt to locate Begay or his car, but were unsuccessful. The police report said he faces charges ranging from leaving the scene of an accident resulting injury to reckless driving.

Warrant issued for arrest of PRC member

GALLUP - Gallup city police said July 24 that they have issued an arrest warrant for Carol Sloan, a member of the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission.

Sloan is accused of beating up on a woman she believed was having an affair with her husband, hitting her on the head several times with a rock.

The warrant was issued after Sloan failed to show up for a meeting with officials for the district attorney's office.

Lukachukai man sentenced to 3 years

PHOENIX  - Alvin Joseph Yazzie, 38, of Lukachukai, Ariz., was sentenced July 27, 2009, to three years in prison for killing a 54-year-old member of the Navajo Nation, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

On May 5, 2009, Yazzie pleaded guilty in federal court to involuntary manslaughter.

On Nov. 17, 2008, Yazzie was driving erratically on the U.S. 160 westbound when he drifted across the center line into the eastbound lane and off the south road edge into a dirt shoulder.

Yazzie over-corrected to the right and caused the vehicle to re-enter the roadway crossing both east and westbound lanes into a broadside skid causing the vehicle to collide with an embankment and roll onto its top.

The victim, a passenger in the vehicle, died of blunt force trauma injuries at the scene.

Another motorist stopped to provide assistance and while contacting the police, Yazzie stole the motorist's vehicle and fled the scene.

Yazzie was eventually apprehended close to the scene of the accident and signs and symptoms of intoxication were observed by law enforcement when they made contact with Yazzie.

Results from a blood analysis conducted at the hospital approximately four hours following the accident revealed Yazzie had a blood alcohol concentration of approximately .190, much higher than the Arizona legal limit of .08.

Body of missing backpacker found

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK - At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 25, search teams found a body believed to be that of overdue backpacker Bryce Gillies in the Bonita Creek drainage on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, according to a press release from the park.

On Tuesday, July 21, the National Park Service was notified that one or more hikers were overdue from a backpacking trip in the park. Initial efforts by investigators located the car of Bryce Gillies at the Bill Hall Trailhead on the North Rim of the park, and determined that only one person had gone on the backpacking trip.

With no backcountry permit to work from and no knowledge of Gillies' specific plans, searchers began covering a large area from the Deer Creek drainage across Surprise Valley to the Tapeats Creek drainage and down to the river.

On Saturday, rescue personnel narrowed their search to the Bonita Creek drainage and surrounding area based on the discovery of personal items, including a backpack, in that vicinity.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., a search team, moving up Bonita Creek from its confluence with the Colorado River, found a body at the top of a 100-foot pour-off. The body, located less than one-half mile from the river confluence, has been presumptively identified as that of 20 year-old Gillies, a student at Northern Arizona University.

The body was recovered by helicopter via long-line operation and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner.

3 men to pay $550,000 for starting fire

PHOENIX - The United States reached a settlement with three Phoenix men, Brad Cislini, Gary Griffo, and Matthew Warnke, related to a wildfire in the area south of Round Mountain in the Red Rock Secret Canyon Wilderness area of the Coconino National Forest, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The United States alleged that the fire, known as the Round Fire, which burned approximately 70 acres of Coconino National Forest in May 2003, was caused when the three men failed to properly extinguish an abandoned campfire in the Secret Canyon area of the Coconino National Forest.

Cislini, Griffo and Warnke agreed to pay $550,000 to settle the matter.

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