Staff Reports
Xavier Bellson
TRYING TO STAY WARM
Gallup, March 1
A man was charged with breaking and entering after he allegedly broke into a Rio West Mall business.
On March 1 around 7 am, Gallup Police Officer Charlie Watkins was dispatched to Rio West Mall, located 1300 W. Maloney Ave.
When Watkins arrived at the scene, he met with one of the business owners, who said he arrived to open his store and begin the day when he noticed his bay door had been broken. He said that a man wearing a black hoodie, brown pants, and a mask had been hiding behind a mop bucket, and he ran out the doorway when the business owner spotted him. That man was eventually identified as Xavier Bellson, 20.
Watkins searched the area and eventually found a man who fit the description, Bellson, at the American Heritage Plaza. He met the man at Marshals and explained why he had stopped him.
When Watkins asked him about the incident Bellson reportedly admitted that he’d broken into the business in an effort to find shelter.
Watkins drove Bellson back to Rio West Mall, and as he was doing so Bellson allegedly explained that’d he’d been cold and was looking for a warm place to stay.
The business owner identified Bellson as the man who had broken into his business. He estimated that it was going to cost $2,5000 to replace his bay door.
Bellson was charged with breaking and entering and criminal damage to property (over $1,000). His next preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 9.
Sabrina Otero
A SINGLE PILL
Gallup, Dec. 15
A woman was caught in a local business’ parking lot with a single fentanyl pill on her person.
On Dec. 15, around 10:15 am, Gallup Police Sgt. John Gonzales was flagged down by a woman who said she owns Ortega Whole Sales, located at 2107 W. Hwy. 66. The business owner reportedly said that a woman was sitting in her parking lot in a black car with no license plate. She said she’d asked the woman, who was eventually identified as Sabrina Otero, who was 46 years old at the time of the incident, to leave her business. But Otero reportedly wouldn’t leave.
When Gonzales arrived at the scene, he allegedly noticed a black Toyota sitting in the parking lot. According to his report, Gonzales saw a woman in the driver’s seat of the vehicle holding a lighter and a piece of foil.
Gonzales approached the vehicle and knocked on the window, and Otero reportedly hid the foil and rolled down her window.
According to his report, Gonzales could smell a strong odor of what he believed to be burnt fentanyl coming from the car. He asked Otero to step out of the vehicle.
Otero did so and allegedly told Gonzales she was trying to make a phone call.
When he asked her if she had any narcotics in the vehicle or on her person Otero said she didn’t. But when Gonzales told her he was going to have a female officer pat her down, Otero admitted she had a couple of fentanyl pills on her. She allegedly reached into her overalls and pulled out a ball of foil and a blue pill.
Otero said she didn’t have anything else on her. When a female officer arrived to pat her down for weapons or any other contraband, Otero admitted she’d thought she’d had two fentanyl pills, but she only found one.
She was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Her jury trial is scheduled for June 17.
