Police to probe death in Fort Defiance

Navajo Nation police are investigating what appears to be homicide of a Fort Defiance man.

The victim was identified as Johnson Apache Jr., 19.

Police were called to the Apache house about 9 a.m. on Feb. 4 because of a person who was bleeding.

When they got there, an ambulance had already arrived and an ambulance attendant said the person was already deceased. Police found the victim laying face down in a puddle of blood in the hallway.

Death was apparently caused by severe injuries that the victim had received on the left side of his face.

No details were given as to why the injuries occurred. No suspects were also listed. The case has been turned over the Criminal Investigations Department.

Trailer damaged by fire

A singlewide trailer in Kayenta was severely damaged in a fire that occurred on Feb. 20.

Police were called to the scene about 9:20 p.m. and found the north side of a trailer belonging to Irene and Sam Parrish already engulfed in flames.

Fie fighters were able to put out the fire but by then the bedroom on the north side was totally destroyed and there was smoke damage throughout the trailer.

The fire apparently started when a heater was left on the north bedroom. No one was in the trailer when the fire started.

Fire destroys Shiprock trailer

Another fire was reported on Feb. 12 on West Mesa Farm Road in Shiprock.

By the time police arrived about 11:40 p.m., the trailer was totally engulfed in flames as well as a SUV that was parked nearby. Police said a hogan that was also located near the trailer had been damaged by the heat.

No one was in the trailer at the time the fire started and police were told that the trailer, which was owned by Patricia Harrison, 23, was used by the family to play video games.

A 12-year-old member of the family had been playing video games in the trailer earlier in the evening and had started a fire in the stove.

Police said that when he left, some 30 minutes before the fire started, the front gate to the stove had not been fully secured.

Group kicks in door

A Dennehotso, Ariz., man learned the hard way about the dangers of opening one's door at 3 a.m. in the morning.

Jonathan Claw, 29, told police he heard knocking on his front door at 3 a.m. on Feb. 17 and when he went to answer it he saw six people  standing outside.

One of the group said they were looking for someone and when Claw said he wasn't there, an argument ensued during which the group kicked open the door and started beating him.

One member of the group also used a brick to damage his mother's car, Claw told police.

The group finally left in a dark mini-van and a neighbor to Claw later told police she saw the van go to the home of Erwin Brady and all of the people in the van went into the house.

Police said the case is still under investigation.

Leupp man drives through fence

Police said it began as an ordinary care of suspected drunk driving.

Police in the Leupp, Ariz., area were told about 9:05 p.m. on Feb. 12 of a possible drunk driver who had driven through a right-of-way fence at the junctions of Navajo Routes 2 and 15.

When police got to the scene, they discovered the car in an open field with the driver, identified as Gary Jensen, 50, of Leupp, inside and injured. He was flown to Flagstaff for his injuries after being charged with DWI and possession of liquor.

Police said there were a number of passengers in the car when it went through the fence but by the time police had arrived they had all fled the scene to avoid being arrested.

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