Staff Reports
NO PAYDAY FOR SHOPLIFTER
Yatahey, May 3
A Yatahey woman was arrested after trying to take several candy bars from a local store without paying for them.
On May 3, McKinley County Sheriff’s Officer Miguel Bittony was dispatched to the Family Dollar store at 24 Hwy. 264 in Yatahey after an employee called Metro Dispatch and said that a customer had left the store with something concealed on their person.
Bittony left the store and shortly afterward found a pair of persons matching the description given to him by the employee. He had to travel off the road into a nearby wash where he met with two other officers who responded to the call. One of them guided Bittony to where the pair had left a set of bicycles and they found the suspects. They were brought to the officers’ units for questioning.
One of them, Krystal Tom, 32, turned over two bags of Payday candy bars. The other suspect said that they had paid for several food items back at the store and that he didn’t know Tom had taken the candy without paying. Bittony called Metro Dispatch for a warrant check on the suspects, where he learned that Tom had an active district warrant.
Afterward, Bittony reviewed the footage provided by the Family Dollar employee. On it, he reportedly saw the pair arguing about something and Tom leaving with something inside her jacket pockets. She was placed under arrest while the male was released.
After the paperwork was completed, Tom was taken to McKinley County Adult Detention Center and booked for shoplifting. Her arraignment in Gallup Magistrate Court is set for June 5.
PASSED OUT FROM DRUG USE
Gallup, May 1
A woman from Espanola, N.M., was arrested in Gallup for drug posession after a police officer reportedly found methamphetamine on her.
On May 1, Gallup Police Officer Maurie Rangel responded to a call about a person who wasn’t breathing in the 1200 block of West Jefferson Avenue. When she arrived on scene she found the woman who had been reportedly not breathing awake and alert. The woman was identified as Tiffany Johnson, 41.
Johnson said she was OK, and that she didn’t know what had happened. She said she hadn’t taken any substances.
Rangel still called for EMS personnel to come check Johnson out. Johnson refused to go to the hospital. Rangel then ran Johnson’s name through Metro Dispatch’s system, and learned that she had a warrant out for her arrest.
While Rangel was doing a routine patdown search of Johnson’s person before she arrested her for the outstanding warrant, she allegedly found a bottle with a clear rock-like substance in her pants pocket. The substance was eventually identified as methamphetamine.
Johnson was arrested for her warrant and possession of a controlled substance. Her preliminary hearing in Gallup Magistrate Court for the drug charges was scheduled for May 6. The case was moved to Gallup District Court on that same day. No further court date has been scheduled as of press time.
