Police Blotter

A woman witnesses said hit a man in the head with a glass beer bottle downtown Saturday morning was booked on a felony charge of assaulting a peace officer after police said she kicked an officer at the hospital, according to Cortez Police Department reports. Officers never found the man.

The following items are drawn from 20 incident reports released by the Cortez Police Department for Oct. 16 through Oct. 21. An arrest, summons or citation is an accusation, not a conviction, and everyone named is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The Cortez Current updates blotter items when charges are dismissed or cases are resolved.

Friday, Oct. 16

12:12 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Kenneth Bancroft, who had just been brought to the jail and was already in custody in a holding cell, was served with a Montezuma County warrant in case 25T175 by an officer who was at the jail on an unrelated arrest. He was left in the custody of jail staff.

4:11 p.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). An officer saw Jeremy Lehi on City Market property. Police said Lehi had signed a never-expiring trespass notice from the store in 2018. According to the report, the officer had cut him a break earlier in the day, when Lehi said he did not know a wall he was at belonged to City Market, and had told him to leave about 10 minutes before; when the officer drove back by, Lehi was still on the property. He was issued a Cortez Municipal Court summons for trespassing, with a court date of Nov. 16.

4:38 p.m., 610 E. Main St. (Front Row Seat). An officer saw Adriano Buckskin walking through the parking lot, and dispatch advised that he had been trespassed from the location in February with no expiration date. Police said Buckskin was cooperative. He was issued a Cortez Municipal Court summons for trespassing, signed it and was released.

Saturday, Oct. 17

9:01 a.m., Harrison Street and East Main Street. Officers responding to a 911 call about a disturbance found that several people had scattered. Witnesses told police that Shanette Jones had thrown food near City Market, was trying to fight people and hit a man in the head with a glass beer bottle; witnesses said the man’s head was split open, and one handed police a speaker they said Jones had thrown at him, according to the report. One witness gave a different account, telling police a man had hit her sister with a bottle. Officers searched the area but could not find or identify the injured man, and asked hospital staff to call police if he came in. A sergeant arrested Jones for disturbing the peace based on witness statements that she was the aggressor. Police said she was heavily intoxicated. At Southwest Memorial Hospital, where she was taken for medical clearance, Jones stood up from her chair and kicked the officer in the thigh, according to the report, and was placed in a restraint. She was booked into the Montezuma County Jail on a felony hold for second-degree assault on a peace officer, along with disorderly conduct.

1:13 p.m., 117 N. Park St. An officer saw Alyssa Marshall sitting outside the building and confirmed through dispatch that she had a Cortez Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear, in case DC2612769. She was arrested, taken to the emergency room for medical clearance and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on the warrant. The warrant was issued after she missed a court date Monday; Marshall told the officer she missed it because of a conflicting family commitment and acknowledged it was her fault, according to the report.

5:37 p.m., North Washington Street and East Main Street. Officers responded to a 911 report of a physical fight in an alley and found Raymond Miles, who matched the caller’s description and had fresh cuts on his hand. Miles told police the other man started it and cursed at him, that he walked away and that he never hit him; police said his account changed several times. A man who was with Miles told police he had to pull Miles off the other man, according to the report. Miles was arrested, and officers found an open, mostly empty bottle of vodka in his backpack. He was medically cleared at the hospital and issued a Cortez Municipal Court summons for disturbing the peace and having an open container, and was left in the custody of jail staff.

Sunday, Oct. 18

4:36 p.m., 506 E. Main St. (City Market Fuel Center). A City Market employee called to report that Edwin Lehi and Jeremy Lehi, who had been trespassed from the store, were on store property, and said he wanted charges pressed. Because of other calls, an officer could not get there while they were on the property but found both men about 5 p.m. on North Ash Street. Each was issued a Cortez Municipal Court summons for trespassing. According to the report, Edwin Lehi refused to sign, crumpled his copy and threw it into the alley with a profane remark; the officer added a littering charge, told him his court date and kept the copy rather than leave it on the ground.

8:11 p.m., 2021 E. Main St. (Speedway). A man sitting near the gas station told police that another man had approached him screaming, walked around the corner as if leaving, then came back and kicked him in the face. The officer found no visible injury to the man’s cheek. Officers found Michael McCoy nearby with two other people; McCoy denied any involvement and said he had just walked through the area, according to the report. A store clerk told police she did not see the assault but saw McCoy running from the area, and the man who was kicked identified McCoy as his attacker. McCoy was arrested for third-degree assault. Police said he became verbally combative and that a search turned up drug paraphernalia, including needles, so a petty offense charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was added. He was medically cleared at the emergency room and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on both charges on a county summons.

Monday, Oct. 19

8:39 a.m., 865 N. Park St. (Montezuma County Combined Courts). Dispatch asked an officer to respond to the courthouse, where Julie Paige, who had an active Montezuma County Combined Courts warrant in case 26T119, was seated inside. Paige told the officer she missed her court date because of an injury, according to the report, and the officer let her walk to the patrol car with her cane before placing her under arrest. She was served the warrant at the Montezuma County Jail.

12:55 p.m., 1835 E. Main St. (Walmart). An officer assisting on another call at Walmart recognized Leman Whiteskunk walking into the store. Dispatch confirmed he had an active Cortez Municipal Court warrant in case DC2613802 and a never-expiring trespass notice from the store issued in 2015. He was arrested outside the store and told the officer he believed he was now allowed there, according to the report. He was served the warrant at the Montezuma County Jail and issued a summons for trespassing.

1:25 p.m., North Market Street and North Street. Witnesses near the First Baptist Church told police a younger woman had pushed an older woman to the ground, and one said the younger woman had pulled out a knife. The officer found Annstell Cooley nearby. According to the report, Cooley at first said she did not know the people involved, then acknowledged pushing the woman down because she had been told the woman had taken something from her, and said she did not mean to push her so hard. Cooley denied having a knife, the officer found none, and another witness told police there was no knife. Witnesses said the woman fell and hit her head; police said she had no visible injuries and declined medical help. Cooley was issued a Montezuma County summons for harassment, with a court date of Nov. 18. The report says she was cited rather than arrested because she was forthcoming and did not appear likely to miss court.

7:16 p.m., 1835 E. Main St. (Walmart). A Walmart employee reported that Vinson Vincenti, who had been permanently trespassed from the store in 2023, was inside. An officer found him nearby on East Main Street; Vincenti said he had tried to get a candy bar but was told to leave, according to the report. The officer found a can of compressed-air duster in his coat pocket that was cold to the touch and, along with his behavior, led the officer to believe it had just been inhaled. Vincenti said he had found the can. Dispatch confirmed two active warrants, in cases 26M267 and 26M259, both for failure to appear on charges of abusing toxic vapors. He was booked into the Montezuma County Detention Center on both warrants and issued a summons for abuse of toxic vapors and third-degree criminal trespass.

7:18 p.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). An employee of Liquid Assets called asking that a man who had been trespassed from that store be removed. The officer contacted Anthony Jones, who police said was highly intoxicated, and confirmed he had been trespassed from both Liquid Assets and City Market and had an active Cortez Municipal Court warrant in case DC2613576. Police said Jones was cooperative throughout. He was medically cleared at the hospital, issued a Cortez Municipal Court summons for two counts of trespassing and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on the warrant.

9:07 p.m., 300 block of South Valley Road. Edward Loveland told police he wanted to turn himself in on a misdemeanor warrant. He was arrested and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on a Montezuma County warrant in case 26M0521.

Tuesday, Oct. 20

3:20 p.m., 600 block of East Montezuma Avenue. An officer on patrol recognized Wallace Summa walking eastbound and confirmed he had an active Montezuma County Combined Courts warrant in case 26M371. He was arrested and served the warrant at the Montezuma County Jail.

4:42 p.m., alley behind 300 E. Main St. (Ocean Pearl). An officer on patrol saw several people sitting on the restaurant’s rear porch; the owners had asked that anyone on the property who was not using the business be removed. The officer recognized Edwin Lehi and confirmed he had an active Cortez Municipal Court warrant in case DC2613861. Police said Lehi was highly intoxicated, and hospital staff held him for evaluation before medically clearing him about 6:30 p.m. He was then served the warrant at the Montezuma County Jail.

7:18 p.m., 10 block of North Ash Street. An officer on patrol checked a parked car that had been the subject of a break-in call the night before and found several people inside. One said they thought it was their aunt’s car; the officer told them they could not be in a car that did not belong to them, according to the report. One man tried to leave and was told to stay, at first refused to give his name, then gave a name that came back with no record. Police said he smelled of alcohol, became agitated and physically aggressive, and was handcuffed. A second officer recognized him as Raynard Peog-Hight, and dispatch advised that he had no warrant but was the restrained party in an active protection order barring him from coming within 100 yards of a woman who was inside the car. He was medically cleared at the Southwest Memorial emergency room and issued a Montezuma County summons for obstructing a peace officer and violating a protection order, and was left in the custody of jail personnel.

8:33 p.m., 24 N. Madison St. (JC Pets). An officer on bike patrol found several people with open containers outside the business; one man walked away as the officer arrived, and the rest were given a verbal warning and poured out their drinks. A second officer found the man who left at North Street and North Harrison Street and told him to stop several times, but he kept walking, according to the report. He was identified as Antonio Yazzie, and police said he was drinking from an open can of beer when they contacted him. Yazzie was arrested for open container and obstruction, medically cleared at the emergency room and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on a Cortez Municipal Court summons.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

3:15 p.m., 405 E. Main St. (Aqua Car Wash). An officer contacted Joshua Hackett, who dispatch said had an active warrant in case 26M185 for failure to appear. The officer arranged for someone to take Hackett’s dog, Chaos, and Hackett was arrested and served the warrant at the Montezuma County Detention Center.

9:34 p.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). A caller reported a man yelling at City Market who had threatened to fight an employee. Officers found Mitchell Mulnix, who matched the description. According to the report, the responding officer had dealt with Mulnix earlier for yelling obscenities at people pumping gas, told him then that it was a crime, and Mulnix had left and come back. An employee told police he had been yelling obscenities at staff and customers at the fuel pumps, and dispatch advised he had been served with a trespass notice from the store that afternoon. Mulnix was arrested for trespassing; police said he acknowledged the trespass notice and admitted yelling. He was medically cleared at the emergency room and booked into the Montezuma County Jail on a Cortez Municipal Court summons for trespassing and disturbing the peace.

Seventeen of the 20 reports say they were drafted with Axon’s Draft One software from the officer’s body-camera audio and reviewed by the officer.