Men in pickup truck lead police on chase

A Leupp, Ariz., resident is facing charges after trying to interfere with a police arrest.

Navajo Nation Police were sent to the NHA complex in Leupp on Aug. 26 to check on the possibility that a violation of a protection order had occurred.

The protection order was between Kristy Cody, no age given, and Eric Long, 22, both of Leupp.

Police discovered that Long was in a pickup truck and began a pursuit that ended a short time later when the driver, identified as Willie Long, 57, of Leupp, stopped. Eric Long was a passenger.

As a police officer approached the truck, it sped away, running over the officer's foot and forcing another pursuit.

By this time, backup had arrived and police were able to get the vehicle stopped, only to be faced with the occupants locking the doors and refusing to come out.

Police said they were forced to break a window using a baton to get Willie Long out of the vehicle.

Police confiscate marijuana on I-40

Navajo police confiscated 10 garbage bags filled with high-grade marijuana during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 40 near Sanders, Ariz., on Aug. 28.

The police report said the pickup truck was stopped when police noticed an equipment violation and also that the driver was following the car in front of him too closely.

When police began talking to the occupants of the vehicle - Jesus Orosio Gallegos, 48, of Coachella, Calif., and Fortono Armento-Ortiz, 33, of Highlands, Calif. - they saw several indicators of criminal activity and smelled the odor of marijuana coming out of the cab.

A search was conducted and police discovered the bags of marijuana as well as $2,476 in cash. The items as well as the vehicle were confiscated and the two individuals were turned over to the Apache County Sheriff's Department.

Police later found out that Ortiz was an illegal alien who had felony warrants out for his arrest as a deported felon with dangerous tendencies.

9 plead guilty to dealing meth

PHOENIX - Nine people have pleaded guilty in federal court to dealing methamphetamine on the Navajo Nation. The nine were part of a network of 22 people arrested earlier this year in a coordinated federal-tribal undercover operation for their roles in supplying the Tuba City area with methamphetamine, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Terry Rae Van Winkle 22, of Tuba City, Ariz. pleaded guilty on Monday, Aug. 30, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Larry Keams Kahn, 42, of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Walker Steven Thornton, 32, of Tuba City, pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

In July and August 2010, five other defendants who sold methamphetamine on the Navajo Nation in Tuba City pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine: Shawn Begay, 28; Collette Serena Yazzie, 26; Ricky Mitchell Yazzie, 43; Monty Dinehdeal, 35; and Julie Reanea Bryant, 22. Vicenya Watson, 37, pleaded guilty in July 2010 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

"This is the beginning of the successful resolution of the largest meth case ever prosecuted in Indian Country. Expect more to come," said U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke. "Meth has had a devastating impact in Arizona?s rural and tribal communities. We will not allow Indian country to be a safe haven for drug dealers."

In a yearlong intensive undercover operation led by the Navajo Nation Drug and Gang Unit with federal and local agency support, police targeted people with a history of dealing methamphetamine in Tuba City. Following this undercover operation, in April 2010 police arrested 22 people on federal charges, nine of whom have now pled guilty and await sentencing. The remaining 13 defendants are pending trial.

The convictions of Begay, Collette Yazzie, Ricky Yazzie, Dinehdeal, Bryant, and Thornton for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both.

Van Winkle and Watson's convictions for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five grams or more of actual methamphetamine carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, a $2 million fine or both.

Kahn's conviction for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine near a truck stop carries a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison, a $4 million fine or both.

The investigation was conducted by the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety Drug & Gang Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the
Flagstaff Police Department.

Chambers man dies in auto crash

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - The man killed in a single-vehicle accident on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park has been identified as Randy Nelson, 22, of Chambers, Ariz., according to a news release from the National Park Service.

Nelson died as a result of injuries he sustained when a pickup truck he was riding in ran into a tree near the intersection of Center and Shuttle Bus Roads in Grand Canyon Village at about 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 23.

An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the National Park Service with the assistance of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

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