Police Blotter 10/01/2026

The following is drawn from 19 Cortez Police Department incident reports dated Sept. 24 through Sept. 30, 2026, obtained by the Cortez Current. It is not a complete log of police calls for the week.

An arrest, summons or citation is an accusation, not a conviction. Everyone named here is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The Cortez Current does not name victims or witnesses, and the department blacked out some names in the reports.

Thursday, Sept. 24

Jacket burned near City Market. 9:26 a.m., area of East Montezuma Avenue and North Harrison Street. An officer sent to a reported fire found a burned jacket on City Market property at 508 E. Main St. According to the report, a witness told fire personnel that a woman in a group at the scene had started the fire. Whisper King was arrested, medically cleared at the hospital and left at the Montezuma County jail with a summons. She denied starting a fire or burning the jacket, the report says. The report does not list the charges on the summons; the officer wrote that he had not checked the box for fourth-degree arson and would ask the district attorney’s office to add a county burn-restriction charge “if they see fit.”

Summons over camper on public easement. 10:32 a.m., 1200 block of 20 Mule Team Drive. Erik Genaw-Wall was served a Cortez municipal summons for occupation of a recreational vehicle. The report says officers had made repeated contacts since Sept. 15 about trash and a camper on a public easement; the trash was removed, but he continued to live in the camper after being told he could not.

Indecent exposure summons. 3:15 p.m., alley near Cortez Fire Station 1, 31 N. Washington St. Cortez Fire Department Assistant Chief Patrick Spencer radioed for an officer after seeing a man urinate in the alley, the report says. Joshua Barnett was issued a Cortez municipal summons for indecent exposure.

Shoplifting summons at Walmart. 4:19 p.m., 1835 E. Main St. Teshawna Simp was issued a summons for shoplifting after a store employee reported that makeup items worth $62.39 were not scanned at a self-checkout. The merchandise was recovered, and Simp was served a one-year trespass notice at the store’s request.

Protection-order arrest at community center. 5:58 p.m., Montezuma County Community Center, 107 N. Chestnut St. An officer was sent on a report of littering and people who appeared to be setting up camp near the center. Rafael Thomas was arrested on suspicion of violating a protection order that bars him from possessing or consuming alcohol; the officer wrote that Thomas appeared intoxicated and was carrying two bottles of vodka. He was medically cleared at Southwest Memorial Hospital and left at the county jail with a Montezuma County Combined Courts summons.

Friday, Sept. 25

Warrant arrest at Veterans Park. 8:03 a.m., 830 E. Main St. An officer was dispatched on a medical call and found a woman with bruising and cuts to her face; she was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital. Alyssa Marshall, who was with her, told the officer the woman had been assaulted in Towaoc the previous night, the report says. A records check showed Marshall had an active warrant. She was arrested and, after a medical clearance, booked into the Montezuma County Detention Center on a failure-to-appear warrant.

Warrants served at jail. 4:22 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. Nicholas Wentz, already in custody at the detention center, was served with two Cortez Police Department warrants. The report does not list the charges.

Fight outside American Legion. 10:14 p.m., 320 N. Harrison St. An officer responding to a report of men yelling found two men fighting in the parking lot. Jesse Lopez told the officer he had been fighting with his brother and declined to pursue charges, the report says. Lopez was arrested on suspicion of violating a protection order that bars him from consuming alcohol; according to the report, he told the officer he had had six beers. He was medically cleared and left at the county jail with a Montezuma County summons.

Saturday, Sept. 26

Domestic violence arrest. 2:51 p.m., an apartment in the 600 block of East Empire Street. A neighbor reported a verbal disturbance. Colette Cox was arrested and booked into the county jail on a Montezuma County summons for harassment and domestic violence. According to the report, Cox told the officer she had struck a man several times during an argument, and later said he had hit her first. The man, whose name is blacked out in the report, had visible injuries and declined to give an account or be photographed, the officer wrote.

Two summonsed in Walmart theft. 5:06 p.m., 1835 E. Main St. Joel Ponce, 37, and Jose Lechuga, 20, were each issued a Cortez municipal summons for shoplifting. The report says store asset protection staff told the officer the two worked together, swapping price tags and putting items in pockets. Store receipts put the merchandise at $119.17 for Ponce and $89.32 for Lechuga. Both apologized and offered to pay, the report says. All items were returned to the store, and both men were served one-year trespass notices.

Sunday, Sept. 27

Open container citation. 2:30 p.m., 23 S. Market St. An officer on a welfare check cited Marvin Benn for an open container of alcohol. The report gives a municipal court date of Oct. 26.

Disturbance at City Market. 5:22 p.m., 508 E. Main St. Multiple callers reported a man kicking propane tanks and trying to fight people, the report says. Mitchell Mulnix was arrested, medically cleared at the emergency room and booked into the county jail on a Cortez municipal summons for disturbing the peace. Mulnix denied the allegations, the officer wrote, and later apologized for what happened at the store.

Warrant surrender. 9:26 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. Penny Collins turned herself in at the county jail on an active Montezuma County Combined Courts warrant, the report says. The report does not list the charge.

Tuesday, Sept. 29

Second summons over camper. 9:39 a.m., 1200 block of 20 Mule Team Drive. After a patrol lieutenant reported that the camper from the Sept. 24 case was still at the location, an officer served Erik Genaw-Wall with a second Cortez municipal summons, the report says.

Warrant arrest in domestic violence case. 3:55 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. Jacob Lindhorst met an officer at the county jail by arrangement and was served with a Montezuma County Combined Court warrant in case 26M494. The report lists the charges as harassment, protection order violation, false imprisonment and domestic violence with a sentence enhancer, all misdemeanors, and says the warrant carried a no-bond hold until he sees a judge.

Two summonsed in Walmart grocery theft. 7:41 p.m., 1835 E. Main St. Elizabeth Rogers and Zachary Potts were each issued a Cortez municipal summons for shoplifting. A store loss-prevention officer told police that 43 grocery items worth $222.70 were not paid for at checkout, the report says. Rogers told the officer she did not mean to take the items, denied intentionally skipping any and said Potts, her son, had nothing to do with it, according to the report. The officer wrote that he reviewed six store security videos. All items were returned to the store, and both were served trespass notices.

Five warrants served at jail. 11:32 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. Clint Laner, in custody at the county jail, was served with five warrants — three listed as FTA (failure to appear) and two as FTC (failure to comply). The report says he was not being held on new charges.

Wednesday, Sept. 30

Arrest outside thrift shop. 2:07 p.m., Methodist Thrift Shop, 444 E. Main St. An officer responded to a report of an intoxicated man lying near the entrance. Robert Grisham was arrested and booked into the Montezuma County Detention Center on a Cortez municipal summons for trespassing and resisting arrest. According to the report, an employee asked that he be moved from the property, he was uncooperative with a medical assessment and refused to leave, resisted being handcuffed, and threatened officers while being driven to Southwest Memorial Hospital, where he was medically cleared.

Warrant served at jail. 6:13 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. Lindsey Newcomb, already in a holding cell at the county jail, was served with a Montezuma County Combined Courts warrant. The report does not list the charge.

Twelve of the 19 reports state that they were drafted with Draft One, an Axon software product that works from the officer’s body-camera audio, and that the officer reviewed and edited the result.