According to Sgt. Donald Derrick of the Valencia County Sheriff's Office, Dean Charles Gamble, 47, BIA rangeland management specialist for Eastern Navajo Agency, was driving eastbound in Los Lunas at about 8 p.m. when he encountered a shseriff's deputy directing traffic around a car that had caught fire.
Derrick said the deputy had to run out of the way to avoid being hit by the white Chevrolet Silverado with U.S. government plates.
The deputy then gave chase and pulled Gamble over, whereupon she smelled a strong odor of alcohol, Derrick said. Gamble refused to take a field sobriety test and was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, a fourth-degree felony.
The vehicle was impounded and Gamble was booked into the Valencia County Detention Center. A date has not been set for his first court appearance, according to an employee of the Belen Magistrate Court.
Woman assaulted in ditch
WINDOW ROCK -- A Fort Wingate man was arrested Wednesday for sexually assaulting a woman in a ditch near the east side of Gallup.
When Gallup police arrived at the scene after someone reported hearing a woman screaming, they found Rudy Martinez, 45, lying on top of a woman.
According to the police report, the woman said she was sleeping when Martinez, who she described as a stranger, came up to her and started taking off her clothes, forcing her to have sex.
Martinez was charged with criminal sexual penetration, false imprisonment and aggravated battery.
Police also said that Martinez had a blood alcohol level of .319 percent, almost four times the legal limit.
Crownpoint man convicted of manslaughter
GALLUP -- A Crownpoint man was sentenced Monday to federal prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Sampson Antonio, Jr., 25, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison by a federal judge in Albuquerque, followed by three years of supervised release for his involuntary manslaughter conviction. Antonio also was ordered to pay $4,077.05 in restitution to cover funeral costs for the victim.
Antonio was arrested in July 2012, on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a 19-year-old Navajo woman in Mariano Lake, N.M., on April 21, 2012. Antonio subsequently was indicted and charged with driving a vehicle while intoxicated and running over the victim and causing her death.
On April 30 Antonio pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim on April 21, 2012, while driving under the influence of alcohol and driving recklessly.
Man pleads guilty of assaulting police officer
WINDOW ROCK, Nov. 7, 2013
A Shiprock man pled guilty Monday to assaulting a Navajo police officer.
Victor Tyler, 44, pleaded guilty in federal district court to an assault with a dangerous weapon charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Tyler was arrested on Aug. 20 based on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon. Tyler subsequently was indicted and charged with that same charge and also with assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury.
On Monday, Tyler pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon. In his plea agreement, Tyler admitted that on Aug. 16 officers of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety came to his Shiprock residence in response to his wife's call for assistance.
At the time, Tyler had armed himself with two kitchen knives and locked himself into a bedroom. After two uniformed officers entered the residence, Tyler came out of the bedroom with the knives, ignored the officers' repeated instructions to drop the knives, and threw one of the knives at one of the officers. The knife struck the officer in the foot, causing injury to her foot.
Tyler has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Tyler faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.