Police Blotter: Bahe gets 3 years in prison for abuse of family

LOS ANGELES

A federal judge in Prescott has given Alfonso Bahe three years in federal prison for assaults he made on members of his family and a former girlfriend in 2017 and 2018.

Bahe, an Arizona resident, was indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse.

According to court records, prosecutors said he had an “alarming pattern of physical abuse against his children and former girlfriend when he was intoxicated. His 13-year-old daughter and former girlfriend told FBI agents that they were emotionally and physically abused.”

In one example he was accused of attacking his daughter in October of 2018 with a wooden bat by pushing it into her mouth and fracturing her tooth.

That same year, prosecutors said he used his arm to choke his daughter and hit her in the face.

In another instance, family members said he chased two of his daughters with his car with his three other children inside the car.

His ex-girlfriend accused him of grabbing her by the neck, hitting her and then trying to strangle her.

While he had no tribal convictions on his record, Navajo Police records showed several encounters with police in 2017 and 2018, all when he was intoxicated. He had also been required by the tribal courts on more than one occasion to go through alcohol abuse counseling.

His public defender said his childhood was marred by his father’s abuse of alcohol. Throughout his adult life, while there were times he acted responsively to take care of his children, he would drink whenever he became angry or frustrated and would take out his feelings on his children.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of 41 months but because he pleaded guilty and showed remorse, the judge agreed to reduce it.\

Drunk driver faces 6½ years for fatal crash

Jarred Darnell Benally plead guilty Monday in a federal district court in Prescott to involuntary manslaughter involving a car accident in which two people were killed.

Benally admitted in a plea agreement to being intoxicated on Oct. 17, 2019, while driving on a Navajo Reservation road.

Navajo Police said he was going 97 mph when he struck a vehicle driven by D.B., causing D.B.’s vehicle to veer into the other lane where it collided with another vehicle driven by A.C. Both vehicles caught on fire.

Both D.B. and A.C. died at the scene of severe trauma.

The maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is eight years but prosecutors have agreed to ask for 78 months.

Benally has been in federal custody since May 31 and will remain in custody until his formal sentencing on a date yet to be determined.

Roanhorse pleads guilty to burning down home

Nevale Roanhorse, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2020 for burning down a residence on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Reservation, last week agreed to plead guilty to starting the fire.

Roanhorse was facing a possible life sentence but in the plea agreement prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of five years because he has shown remorse and has accepted responsibility for his actions.

In the plea agreement, he admitted entering the home of K.B. and R.Y. and starting a fire to burn the building down. The ensuing fire completely destroyed the residence.

Roanhorse has been in federal custody since his arrest on July 6, 2020. He continues to be held in custody until his sentencing, the date for which has not been set.

Tullie agrees to guilty plea for stabbing

Tyler Tullie last week entered a guilty plea in federal court in Prescott to committing an assault with a deadly weapon in an incident that occurred on the Navajo Reservation in 2021.

In his signed plea agreement, Tullie, no age or address listed, pleaded guilty to attacking A.M. in February 2019. During the attack, he admitted stabbing her several times.

He faced a maximum sentence of 10 years but prosecutors agreed to accept a lesser prison sentence because he expressed remorse for his action and accepted responsibility. No sentencing date has been set.

He has been held in custody since his arrest in January 2021.

Yazzie facing 7 months for escape

Antonio Yazzie is looking at a possible seven-month sentence after walking away from a Flagstaff work assignment, to which he was assigned after a guilty plea for robbing a store on the Navajo Reservation.

Yazzie, no age or address given, was convicted in April 2018 of robbery on the reservation and had been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. He was in his third year of incarceration when he was assigned to Working Alternatives, a sort of halfway facility to help federal inmates transition into a work environment upon release from prison.

On Oct. 9, 2020, he was at the assigned work when he walked out without permission and never came back. He was rearrested again this past March to complete his original robbery sentence.

He remains in the custody of the U. S. Marshall’s Office in Prescott until his formal sentencing, the date of which has not been set.

Man dies from fall at Chevelon Bridge

HOLBROOK – On July 13, Cody Long, 32, died when he fell near Chevelon Bridge off Territorial Road.

The bridge, southeast of Winslow, is a steel bridge over Chevelon Creek on the Holbrook-Winslow road.

The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call that reported two individuals had fallen. When deputies arrived, they located two male subjects stuck in a crevasse along the creek.

It was learned that four individuals, all from Leupp, Arizona, were at the bridge when a Mike VanWinkle, 34, decided to jump into the creek from the bridge.

Two of the other males, Matthew Flood, 28, and Long attempted to climb down to assist their friend when they fell down and got stuck.

A Navajo County Sheriff’s deputy climbed down the cliff in an attempt to perform first aid and rescue efforts. Joseph City Fire personnel, Coconino County Search and Rescue, and AZDPS Air Rescue conducted the rescue and recovery.

Long later succumbed to his injuries. Flood was flown to a medical center for critical injuries. VanWinkle was taken to a local hospital for evaluation for minor injuries. Cody Lee, 55, was not injured.

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