Crownpoint teacher arrested in teen's death

Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the death of a 16-year-old Crownpoint youth who died of alcohol poisoning at a graduation bash May 8 in Bluewater, N.M.

Officials with the Cibola County District Attorney's office said the case is still under investigation and more arrests are expected.

Tryan Denetso, a student at Crownpoint High School, was found dead in his tent the morning after the party by fellow campers, who later told state police that many of the more than 30 students who attended the campout had spent the evening before drinking beer.

According to state police, Denetso had a blood alcohol level at the time of his death of .40, five times the legal limit for driving.

Among those arrested were Dylan Madewell, 18; his father, Tommy Madewell, 44; Allen Eberth, 24; and Eric Edwards, 38.

The elder Madewell, a teacher at Crownpoint Middle School, was not at the party but reportedly helped organize it. According to school officials, flyers were passed out the few days beforehand inviting high school kids to attend.

One parent said she asked questions after her teen said he wanted to go, and she was told that it was a family camp-out and no alcohol would be allowed.

According to one youth at the party, Tommy Madewell supplied part of the liquor that was made available to the kids at the party.

All four arrested have been charged with distributing liquor to a minor, a fourth degree felony. Edwards, who stood in for Madewell at the event, was also charged with child abuse leading to death, which, if convicted, requires a minimum of 30 years in state prison.

State police also want to arrest Roman Yazzie, 19, and his father, Norman Yazzie, 44, both of Crownpoint. President Joe Shirley Jr. reportedly signed extradition papers on Wednesday.

The Madewells made bail Wednesday but Eberth and Edwards were still in jail as of press time.

Toddler killed in rollover

An 18-month-old toddler was killed in a one-vehicle rollover near Coalmine, Ariz. on May 13.

Police said they arrived at the scene of the accident and found the baby dead and its mother - identified as Belinda Mae Joe, 24, of Coalmine - lying on the ground near the vehicle. She was later found to be suffering from internal injuries and was flown to Flagstaff for treatment.

No details of the accident were included in the police report.

Tussle ends in escape, arrest

A police officer found out that arresting Casey James, 40, of Kinlichee, Ariz., in front of his kinfolks is no easy task.

James came under suspicion when a police officer noticed him driving west on Navajo Route 7. James almost collided head-on with the police vehicle.

The officer turned around and gave chase, following James to the mutual-help housing area in Fort Defiance, where he stopped in front of No. 17.

The officer pulled to a stop in front of James' vehicle, and James reportedly got out of his vehicle and ran, not stopping until the officer disabled him using a Taser.

James, however, was stopped only momentarily, then got up and started fighting the officer, according to police.

As the two wrestled, James' family members allegedly started to interfere with his arrest. One person grabbed him and pulled him away from the officer's grasp, allowing James to escape.

It took four hours of searching to capture him but he was finally apprehended and charged with aggravated battery.

Break-in at Sheepsprings TP

Navajo police are looking for a person who broke into the Sheepsprings Trading Post in the early hours of May 12.

The suspect is identified as Native American and was reported to have been driving a red extended-cab GMC pickup. The pickup is expected to have extensive damage to the front because the suspect reportedly rammed the building to gain access.

Police said he managed to vandalize the trading post and break into the U.S. Post Office, which was located inside the building.
He was working to open a postal box when he saw people approaching and ran to his truck and fled the area, heading over the mountain on State Route 134 where police lost track of him.

Pinon man sentenced for sexual abuse

PHOENIX - Rendell Gene, 37, of Pinon, Ariz., was sentenced to five years in federal prison for the crime of abusive sexual contact. The sentence will be followed by five years of supervised released, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

On Nov. 23, 2009, the defendant pled guilty to forcibly grabbing the victim's vaginal area and picking her up and throwing her against the wall after ordering her to take off her clothing. Gene also dragged the victim around his hogan by her left breast.

This all occurred during a night when the defendant also repeatedly punched the victim's face, head and upper body and kicked her lower body leaving bruises. The crime occurred on or about March 4, 2009, on the Navajo Reservation.

Parker man gets 7 years for punching jailer

PHOENIX - Leonard Fisher, 24, of Parker, Ariz., was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and more than $6,000 in restitution for assaulting a federal officer while jailed in the Truxton Canyon Adult Detention Center in Peach Springs, Ariz., according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Fisher punched a corrections officer several times in the face, causing broken facial bones, a damaged palate, and permanent damage to the officer's senses of smell and taste. The injured jailer required two surgeries to repair the damage, and is expected to suffer permanent effects from it.

The assault occurred Feb. 26, 2009, when Parker was questioned by the jailer about hitting a fellow inmate in the Truxton lockup. He punched the jailer so hard that the man fell to the floor, put him in a headlock and began choking him. Fisher ultimately released the chokehold, but then created havoc trying to escape the jail, which he was unable to do.

This was Fisher's second felony conviction for assault. In 2007 he attacked a fellow inmate in the Colorado River Indian Tribes detention facility in Parker.

Woman sentenced in homicide cover-up

PHOENIX - Samantha Barrera, 23, of Laveen, Ariz., was sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to misprision of felony for her efforts to thwart a homicide investigation, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The case involved the 2008 beating death of Dana Peters on the Gila River Indian Reservation, for which two people close to Barrera - Deanna Breckenridge and Anthony Trujillo - later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Barrera, the cousin of Breckenridge and Trujillo's girlfriend at the time, was present during the beating and helped the perpetrators clean up the crime scene afterward. She also lied to the FBI about what she saw and knew of the homicide.

During sentencing Judge Mary Murguia said, "We will never know if the victim would have lived if Barrera had timely reported the conduct of Breckenridge and Trujillo."

She also said that while Barrera did not kill Peters, "You literally have the blood on your hands from cleaning up what had occurred."

10 busted in Sells drug sweep

SELLS, Ariz. - The Tohono O'odham Nation Police Department led a multi-jurisdictional task force in an early morning sweep May 15, arresting 10 people and searching seven homes just a dozen miles north of the Mexican border, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The combined operation targeted a network of alleged cocaine dealers in the Sells area and was the largest drug enforcement action ever undertaken by the tribe. Police seized weapons, including an assault rifle, vehicles, and undetermined quantities of cash, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana.

Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, said, "The illegal actions by a select number of individuals have put the entire community at risk. We will not tolerate this unlawful behavior and we will not tolerate the violence that accompanies it. Families are safer today because of the dedication and hard work of our Tohono O'odham Police Department and the other law enforcement agencies involved in this effort."

The arrests, which occurred without incident May 15, follow a five-month investigation by the Tohono O'odham Police Department's Anti-Violence Unit and the BIA Division of Drug Enforcement, into a network of people allegedly involved in the cocaine trade.

Grand Canyon suicide suspect identified

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - A man found deceased after park rangers and tactical team negotiators spent several hours trying to talk him out of a residence in Grand Canyon National Park has been identified as 51-year-old Mark Twain Ferguson of Arizona.

At approximately 1 p.m. on May 11, National Park Service investigators attempted to contact Ferguson regarding an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court. Ferguson, who was visiting a local resident and staying in a house in a park residential area, repeatedly refused to engage park investigators when they attempted to talk to him.

Because he was believed to be in possession of a weapon, park personnel took every precaution to protect the safety of their team and local residents, calling in the Flagstaff Tactical Operations Team, evacuating all nearby residences and closing off roads in the area.

Once the tactical team arrived, their negotiator joined in the efforts to elicit a response from Ferguson, but he remained silent and closed inside the residence.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., after exhausting all other options, the tactical team entered the home where Ferguson was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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