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3 injured, 1 arrested after suspected DUI near Tóhajiileehé Chapter
PHOENIX
An investigation by Navajo Nation Police is currently being conducted after an alleged drunk driver ran into three women near the Tóhajiileehé Chapter House.
Around 5:02 Tuesday afternoon, July 18, the Crownpoint Navajo Police Department received a report of a crash in Tóhajiileehé involving pedestrians.
Navajo Police Chief Daryl Noon said the incident reportedly occurred at the end of a chapter meeting. One woman sustained substantial injuries and is hospitalized at the UNM Medical Center in Albuquerque.
“The person with the substantial injury got pinned between the vehicle and the building,” Noon said in an interview with the Navajo Times on Wednesday evening. “Some people that were there witnessed it, and some inside, heard it. They came outside, and everybody reacted quickly.”
The surrounding people near the accident scene jumped in to help the victim with her substantial injuries with a makeshift tourniquet, said Noon, while another person on the scene was able to detain the drunk driver.
One woman was able to jump out of the way, and Noon said the third woman was bumped in the knee.
Chapter president Jimmy R. Secatero’s wife, Jo Marie Secatero, was one of the women hit by the drunk driver and sustained cuts on her knee.
Secatero believes controversies with an improper election at the chapter house targeted the incident.
Secatero said she was standing outside the chapter house with a few friends talking when she noticed a grey car slowly driving up to the chapter house. Secatero said the driver hit the gas as the car got closer, and Secatero’s friend was pinned.
“My friend sustained a lot of injuries, losing her leg, all our friends and relatives were scrambling around, and the chapter employees were helping. The bailiff was the one that handcuffed the individual for us,” said Secatero.
When the bailiff was handcuffing the driver, Secatero said the driver was yelling out, “Somebody needs to apologize to me.”
Secatero said the community came together to remedy problems happening within the chapter house because they weren’t getting help from the Navajo Nation government. With the recent incident, she doesn’t know what will happen with the chapter house and the community that needs help.
“I hope the Navajo Nation government does something in our community because it’s being torn apart by corruption,” said Secatero.
Noon said officers were already in the area when they got the call and were on the scene quickly.
Jacquelyn Jessica Moore was identified as the alleged drunk driver. She was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, an accident involving death or personal injury, possession of liquor, and aggravated battery.
According to a community source, there was controversy over the Tóhajiileehé Chapter’s recent elections. That controversy then led to a protest at the chapter meeting and was also the reason for the incident.
The source said the election was conducted improperly and was unfair to others who wanted to be a part of the chapter’s board but didn’t have enough time to join in the election.
Noon said the incident is still being investigated, but he did acknowledge that there could be a possibility that the incident was intentional.
“I heard that was a possibility, but based on the investigation, that’s going to be depended on subsequent interviews that should be conducted and a decision that the prosecutor’s office will have to make,” said Noon.
No other details were available on the incident as of the press deadline on Wednesday.