Gunshots fired at Shonto party
Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, April 28, 2011
A party in the Shonto, Ariz., area on April 22 got ugly after a night of drinking, leaving one of the party-goers being treated for a gunshot wound to his left leg.
Navajo Nation Police didn't give a location for the party but said that several people who attended it had been drinking intoxicating liquor for some time when a series of fights broke out, causing people to start to leave.
Kyle Yazzie, 22, no address given, was one of them.
He and several others were headed for their cars when shots rang out. The shots were fired from a moving vehicle and the shots were fired into the crowd.
Yazzie was the only one who was hit. He was taken to the Tuba City Medical Center and treated and released.
Police said they could not locate the occupants of the car, in part because the witnesses had been drinking for some time and gave different accounts of what they saw.
Missing
Duane Ryan Thomas, 30, was reported missing by his family on March 29. He was in the Four Corners area at the time but his family hasn't heard from him since the beginning of March, said Devena Thomas, 32, his sister.
He's about five feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds with a thin build.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Devena Thomas at 928-266-9858 or Julia Thomas at 928-206-0631.
Devena Thomas has started a Facebook page in Duane's name and people can contribute information there too.
Kayenta man assaulted
A Kayenta man was assaulted on April 23 by four men wearing black. The victim suffered two stab wounds.
Police said Jordan Jay Whitehorse, 20, and his brother, Quinton Jay Whitehorse, no age given, both of Kayenta, were walking home about 10 a.m. when they were assaulted by the men some 50 yards east of the NHA town housing.
Jordan Whitehorse was stabbed with a knife had lacerations to his left upper back and his right biceps. Police have no suspects at this time.
The case has been turned over to criminal investigation.
Man hit with aluminum bat
Another aggravated battery took place on April 21 in Kayenta but in this case, police have a suspect.
The vicim was identified as Harold M. Yazzie, 49, of Kayenta.
Police said he was hit twice on the head by an aluminum softball bat welded by Marilyn Young, 48, of Kayenta. She also reportedly hit him several other times about the body as well.
Police said when they got to the scene where the incident occurred, Yazzie was on the ground unconscious. He was flown to Flagstaff Medical center for treatment.
Listed as a domestic violence incident, the case was turned over to criminal investigation for investigation.
NTUA reports damage to water well
Officials for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority reported to police on April 19 that a person or persons unknown had gotten into one of their water wells operation and did more than $30,000 worth of damage.
The break-in occurred in the Birdsprings area and was reported by Lucy Cayatineto who told police that the unknown vandals had gotten through a fence around two NTUA water wells that provided water to the Birdsprings, Jones Ranch and Chichiltah area.
The vandals broke the wells' RTU controller panel and circuit breakers. The RTU panel provides NTUA with data telling how much water is still in the well.
Cayatineto said the incident is very serious because water is "a major life source to the communities."
There are a number of homes near the NTUA wells but so far the only witness statements to police have been vague about unknown individuals being seen near the wells in the days before the vandalism as reported.
Fatal accident at Breadsprings
An accident with a fatality was reported on the Breadsprings Road on April 24.
The victim, Nathan Davis, 21, of Pine Haven, N.M., was in a vehicle with three other individuals when the accident occurred. He was a passenger sitting in the front seat.
When police arrived on the scene, they found a Camero with its left side smashed in and wrapped around a tree. Davis' body was hanging out the front passenger window, having been partially ejected from the vehicle. He had no pulse.
The other three - Kenneth Joe Jr., 18; Derrick Yazzie, 21; and Robert Angus Tree, 19, all living on Cousins Road, were still inside the vehicle "crying for help," according to the police report.
All three were trapped in the vehicle and police had to use two Jaws of Life to get them out. The three were transported to the Gallup Indian Medical Center for treatment.
Police said there was a "strong odor of intoxicating liquor" coming from all three individuals, none of whom, along with the deceased, were wearing set belts at the time of the accident.
Dog attack reported in Twin Lakes
Sherry Johnson, 46, who lives in Twin Lakes, N.M., called police on April 24 to report that her neighbor's dogs had once again attacked her sheep.
When police arrived at her residence, they found one of her sheep with a deep gash about the side of a basketball at its hindquarter and left side.
Johnson told the officer that this wasn't the first time her sheep had been attacked and not the first time by her neighbor's dogs.
She said she had called tribal rangers several months ago with a report of a sheep attack and when the rangers came, the only thing they did was confiscate a hunting bow belonging to her son.
She told police that because of that incident, she wanted the police to handle the problem and put down her sheep, which was still breathing but the breathing was labored.
The officer called his supervisor and was given permission to put the sheep down which he did.
Police did an investigation and found that the neighbor's dogs were not on a leash so they reported the situation to the tribe's animal control department.
Laptops stolen at Church Rock
A vandals or vandals got into the Church Rock Elementary School during spring break and stole an unknown number of laptop computers.
The police were called to the school about 7:39 p.m. on April 18 by Tony Bahe, a school official who said that the last time the school was checked was three days before.
The vandal or vandals go into the building by breaking a window. From there, they got into the computer lab and the library.
Police said they found footprints leading away from the building as well as tracks that came from a two-wheeled cart.
Roundup in Eastern Agency
The drug and gang enforcement unit, aided by state police, conducted a series of warrant round-ups at several communities in the Eastern Navajo Agency on April 15.
Beginning at 4 p.m. and continuing until 10 p.m., the police officers arrested people in the following communities who had outstanding warrants for their arrest: Crownpoint, Becenti, Dalton Pass, Standing Rock, Mariano Lake, Pinedale, Smith Lake, Casamero Lake, Borrego Pass and Thoreau.
No names were released but police said that a total of 20 persons were arrested, 18 on outstanding warrants and two for other unspecified reasons.
Fatal rollover by Spider Rock
A vehicle rollover with a fatality occurred in Chinle near the Spider Rock Overlook on April 11.
When police arrived at the scene, they found a black Chevy Truck on its top with two males near the vehicle and another male - identified as Gilbert Thomas, 39, of Chinle, underneath the vehicle, with only part of his body showing. Police said when they arrived on the scene, Thomas had no pulse.
The two standing by the vehicle were identified as Amos Thomas, 17, and Johnson Thomas, 61, both of Chinle.
The vehicle was traveling on Route 7 at a high rate of speed when the driver of the vehicle - who was not identified in the police report - lost control of the vehicle on the dirt road.
The driver overcorrected and went off the road, at which time the vehicle went airborne about 40 feet, striking a tree and the hitting the ground again.
It still had a good burst of speed and traveled more than 42 feet before it began rolling over and Landing on its top. None of the occupants were wearing seat belts but only Thomas was ejected from the vehicle.