Roadblocks planned during graduation season
Editor's note: These police reports are taken from the official reports filed by police officers with the Window Rock headquarters. Any disagreements or questions about the reports should be directed to the Department of Law Enforcement.
Navajo Times
E-mail this story |
| Font: N /
N+ /
N++
It's graduation time, which means celebrations and parties, which means the Navajo police will be out in force during the next few weeks with roadblocks checking for drunk drivers.
Police officials said that the roadblocks will be set up on reservation and roads to border towns during graduations to check not only for drunk drivers but to make sure people have their driver's license, registration and proof of insurance.
The effort is coordinated by the department's Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.
Some of the locations and dates of the roadblocks have been announced.
- On May 10, in the Chinle area for the Chinle Junior High graduation;
- May 16, Many Farms;
- May 17, Chinle High graduation;
- May 17, Page;
- May 23 and 24, Tuba City;
- May 24, Pinon High School graduation; and
- May 29, Ganado.
Man arrested after pointing gun at officer
A St. Michaels, Ariz., man was arrested and charged with assault after he pointed a gun at a tribal police officer.
Police said the incident began about 7 p.m. April 3 when dispatch officials began hearing reports that Dominick Yazzie, 19, was carrying a gun in an open field in the community.
When police arrived, they saw Yazzie and announced their presence, at which time Yazzie reportedly turned around and showed a handgun, manipulating it as if he was loading it.
He then pointed it at one of the officers and walked toward him. The officer ducked behind a tree and ordered him to put the gun down.
At that point, according to police, Yazzie turned and ran away and during the pursuit he discarded the gun.
He was then arrested and police confiscated the gun. Police said Yazzie was later identified as a "self-proclaimed member of the West Side Crips."
Steak sauce bottle used as weapon
A Fruitland, N.M., man learned the hard way that everything, even a bottle of A-1 steak sauce, can be used as a weapon.
Police said that Michael Johnson, 26, was hit by a steak sauce bottle on April 27 by Carlisle Yazzie, 30, also of Fruitland, after the two had gotten into an argument.
The blow momentarily caused him to black out, said police, allowing time for Yazzie to stab him in the chin and the left side of his face with broken glass.
Johnson had 32 stitches in his chin, four on the left side of his face and four on his left eyebrow. Police said Yazzie, who was arrested for aggravated battery, had been drinking at the time of the incident.
Man arrested for stabbing
Police reported another case where the suspect showed a weapon to police officers and threatened them.
This time it was a knife and police said the incident began about 7:39 p.m. on April 29 when police received a call saying that Myron Tsosie, 32, of St. Michaels, had hit his girlfriend, Cynthia Tsosie, on the head and then left the scene.
When police arrived at Cynthia Tsosie's house, they saw two males walking up to the house. But when the men saw police, they turned and ran.
A civilian, Robert Cooley, ran after one of the men, later identified as Gary Tsinijinnie, and tackled him while the officers pursued Myron Tsosie.
After a brief chase, Tsosie pulled out a knife and "began putting dirt on it as if he was cleaning it off."
The police officers pulled their guns and ordered Tsosie to drop the knife. Tsosie then threw the knife on top of the house and surrendered.
It was at that time that police learned that Tsinijinnie had stab wounds to his right arm and upper torso. He was flown to Flagstaff for internal bleeding.
Myron Tsosie was charged with assault of both Tsinijinnie as well as the police officers.
Man dies in house fire
While house or trailer fires are almost a weekly occurrence on the Navajo Reservation, especially in the winter when people are using their wood stoves, it's rare that anyone is killed.
A Shonto, Ariz., man, Ron Lee Bronston, 23, died in a house fire that occurred about 8 a.m. on April 27.
Police and fire trucks had been called to the house, which was totally destroyed, although some of the walls were left standing.
When firemen were checking the residence, they discovered Bronston's charred body in the middle of the floor.
The cause of the fire is unknown but fire officials said that it apparently had started near an electric outlet that was located near where the body was found.
Family members said Bronston was living in the house at the time of the fire.
Klagetoh man charged for stabbing
A case that went on for several hours and involved several people ended with a Klagetoh, Ariz., resident being investigated for aggravated battery.
It ended with police being called about 6 a.m. on April 13 by Michael Reed, 23, of Klagetoh, who told police he had been stabbed by Jody Smith, no age given, also of Klagetoh.
But before this happened, at about 1 a.m., police had received a report of another case of aggravated battery, this one involving Ricardo Smith, no age or town listed, who had been severely beaten with a blunt object.
Ricardo Smith was flown to Flagstaff with trauma to his head. Police said that Reed had been identified as a suspect in that beating.
When Ricardo Smith was in the emergency room, nurses heard Jody Smith make threats against Reed. Several hours later Reed himself was transported to Flagstaff with a stab wound to his chest with Jody Smith now being investigated for this crime.
Man beaten at Inscription House
Navajo police are investigating a hit and run and aggravated battery that occurred on May 2 about 10:30 a.m. on Route 16 near the Crossroads Store in Inscription House, Ariz.
Fernando Alvarez, 32, of Inscription House, was driving southbound on Navajo Route 16 when he collided with a car driven by Bigman Bedonie, 18, also of Inscription House.
After the collision, Alvarez left the scene and went to the nearby Crossroads Store where Bedonie, along with Robert Soto Jr., 25, also of Inscription House, confronted him.
Polcie said Alvarez was knocked to the ground and struck several times with fists and kicks.
Alvarez's girlfriend, identified as Marleilia Whiterock, no age or hometown given, tried to stop the fight but police said she was pushed to the ground by Soto.
Soto and Bedonie then fled the scene. The case is under investigation by the tribe's Criminal Investigation Unit.