Sheriff's Blotter

Black bears have repeatedly gotten into a trash dumpster at the Teddy Bear Preschool in Dolores this month, and as of Oct. 21 the company that owns it had not repaired or replaced it despite requests, according to a report written by Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin. The sheriff wrote three other reports on bears in unsecured trash in Dolores between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22, one of which ended in a summons.

The following items are drawn from 22 incident reports released by the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 28. Most cover Oct. 16 through Oct. 26; five deal with earlier incidents, going back to Sept. 6. 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 will update a blotter item when it learns that charges were dismissed or a case was resolved; anyone named can send documentation to CortezCurrent@pm.me.

Sunday, Sept. 6

4:32 a.m., 19100 block of Road G. A caller reported a crash and said a man who appeared intoxicated was walking away from it. On the way, a deputy was flagged down about 6 miles away, near the 8000 block of Highway 160, by a man who turned out to be the registered owner of the car found in a ditch. The man told the deputy that people he had been with drove the car and left him behind, according to the report, but his account changed several times, and the deputy said he smelled of alcohol. The Colorado State Patrol was notified because it was a crash, and the deputy was advised to give the man a ride home; a trooper was to follow up. The report was written Oct. 21.

Friday, Oct. 2

3:37 a.m., Highway 491 and Highway 160, Towaoc. A deputy was sent to help a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who had stopped to check on a pickup with a flat tire and, according to the report, found the two people inside slouched over and what he described as a meth pipe in the driver’s lap. The deputy saw a water pipe with burnt residue and a small baggie of white crystalline powder in the driver’s door handle, along with a roll of more than 50 unused small baggies on the passenger side. The passenger, Sonja Garcia, told the deputy the unused baggies were hers but were not for drugs, and that she and the driver, Ruben Gaytan-Ruiz, had smoked methamphetamine hours earlier, according to the report. Both were arrested on narcotics-related charges; the report does not list the specific charges. The powder later tested presumptive positive for fentanyl and weighed 2.86 grams, the report says, and while being booked Garcia said everything in the pickup belonged to her. The pickup was towed to the county impound lot and both of their phones were seized, pending search warrants. Both were left in the custody of the Montezuma County Detention Center.

Sunday, Oct. 4

3:38 a.m., 11300 block of Road 29. A man called 911 to report that a woman had come into the home, beaten him and another woman, and fled. When a deputy arrived, the man changed his account of who the attacker was, according to the report, saying it was someone who looked like the woman he first named. The deputy noted injuries to the man’s head and face and blood on the other woman, who said nothing had happened and that the blood on her pants came from her dog. The deputy could not reach the woman first named by phone, and the report says further investigation will be conducted.

Tuesday, Oct. 6

11:07 a.m., Highway 184 and Road T, near Dolores. A woman called 911, crying, to say a man who was driving her to work would not let her out of the car. A deputy found her walking along Highway 145 near Road T.5. She told the deputy the two had been arguing and he would not pull over when she wanted out, so she jumped out of the vehicle when he pulled into a business, according to the report. She was hurt in the fall and was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital to be checked. Other deputies contacted the driver; their reports were not among those released, and the report does not say whether anyone was charged.

Wednesday, Oct. 14

3:18 p.m., 28000 block of Road T, near Dolores. A woman who was living at an RV park told a deputy by phone that a couple who helped her with repairs to her RV would take the checks she wrote for the work, come back and tell her the checks had bounced, and that they had cashed checks for $2,500 and $1,500; she said her bank has video of the woman cashing them. Because her bank is in Durango, the deputy referred her to the Durango Police Department. She also reported that a .38-caliber revolver and about $500 from a jar of $5 bills were missing. Without the gun’s serial number, the deputy could not enter it into state and national crime databases as stolen, according to the report, which lists the case as unfounded for now unless she finds the serial number.

Friday, Oct. 16

4:40 a.m., 100 block of North 11th Street, Dolores. Sheriff Steve Nowlin, on patrol in Dolores, saw that a black bear had gotten into a trash can that was not bear-resistant and eaten the trash. Nowlin wrote that the bear simply lifted the lid of the can, which was held shut only by two rubber straps, and that the can does not meet the Town of Dolores ordinance requiring bear-resistant containers. The investigation is continuing.

Saturday, Oct. 17

9:47 a.m., 600 block of Railroad Avenue, Dolores. Nowlin responded to another trash can a bear had gotten into. He wrote that it, too, was held shut only by two rubber straps and does not meet the town’s requirements. The investigation is continuing.

Sunday, Oct. 18

4:16 p.m., 33300 block of Highway 184, near Mancos. A deputy responded to a single-vehicle rollover. The driver was not hurt and declined medical treatment. A Colorado State Patrol trooper took over the investigation and did not issue a citation, and the deputy gave the driver a ride home.

Monday, Oct. 19

4 p.m., Highway 160 and Road C. Deputies helped at a crash between two semitrailers with reported injuries, blocking traffic until the Colorado Department of Transportation took over. A BIA officer passed along a witness’s report that the driver of the rear semi may have thrown things out of the cab, according to the report. The deputy looked and found an open, partly crushed beer can near the cab’s passenger side, and told the State Patrol corporal investigating the crash.

6:12 p.m., Highway 160 and Road D.6. A Dodge Dakota trying to make a U-turn on the highway hit a trailer being pulled by a southbound pickup carrying a family, according to the report. No one in the pickup was hurt, though EMS checked on a child who was shaken up. The State Patrol corporal who took over the crash said the Dakota’s driver, Edith Jones, was at fault and could not show proof of insurance, and dispatch said she did not have a valid driver’s license. Deputies said they smelled alcohol on Jones, and she told them she had had “a couple shots a few hours ago,” according to the report. After field sobriety tests and a breath test, she was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital for a blood draw and medical clearance and booked into the Montezuma County Detention Center for driving under the influence, driving without a valid license, driving without proof of insurance and careless driving.

8:57 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Detention Center). Naomi Woody turned herself in on two active warrants, in cases 26M515 and 24M637. She was arrested and booked into the detention center on both.

Tuesday, Oct. 20

7:57 a.m., 13500 block of Road 32.4, near Mancos. A business owner reported that a forklift he uses at a job site had burned overnight; he said he paid about $20,000 for it and that it was not insured. The deputy found no signs of an accelerant or forced entry, and department staff familiar with fire investigations who reviewed photos said the fire was consistent with a mechanical or electrical problem, according to the report. A neighbor said he saw nothing suspicious, and the deputy concluded the fire was not suspicious.

9:37 p.m., 1000 block of Highway 160. Deputies running radar clocked a southbound SUV at 77 mph in a 65 mph zone. The driver, Donna Slowman, told the deputy her Colorado driver’s license was revoked, and dispatch confirmed it. She was issued a summons for speeding and for driving while her license was under restraint.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

5:59 a.m., 1550 Hillside Ave., Dolores. Nowlin wrote that during patrols this month he has caught black bears getting into the trash dumpster at the Teddy Bear Preschool, on the southeast corner of the school property along Hillside Avenue. He and the Dolores School maintenance supervisor asked the disposal company that owns the dumpster to repair or replace it, according to the report, because it is not bear-resistant or secured as the town ordinance requires. Nowlin wrote that he contacted the company Oct. 14 to tell it the ordinance requires trash companies doing business in Dolores to provide secured, latchable dumpsters, and that as of Oct. 21 no repairs or replacements had been made. The investigation is continuing.

8:48 a.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Herman Maestas, who was already in custody at the jail, was served with an Arizona Department of Corrections warrant for a probation violation. He was left in the custody of jail staff.

2:43 p.m., Road 25 and Road H. A deputy stopped a car that rolled through a stop sign. The driver, Nicholas Oakes, handed over his documents and told the deputy his license was revoked, saying he was on his way to a job interview, according to the report. Dispatch confirmed the revocation. Oakes was issued a summons for driving after revocation and failing to obey a traffic control device, and he and the car were released to a licensed driver.

Thursday, Oct. 22

6:52 a.m., 100 block of North 11th Street, Dolores. Nowlin saw that a black bear had gotten into an unsecured trash can, in violation of the town ordinance, at a different address on the same block as the Oct. 16 report. He returned about 9 a.m., contacted the owner, Michael Scrivner, and issued him a summons for the ordinance violation. The case is closed.

12:40 p.m., Fourth Street and Railroad Avenue, Dolores. A deputy pulling into the Speedway at 501 Railroad Ave. saw a side-by-side pull in ahead. The deputy told the two men in it, who said they were camping in Dolores County, that off-highway vehicles cannot be driven on roadways in the town of Dolores. The deputy called Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson to see whether someone could take them back to camp, but the driver reached a friend who could trailer the vehicle, and it was left parked at the Speedway. The driver, Daniel Weik, was issued a summons for operating an off-highway vehicle on a roadway in town.

Friday, Oct. 23

1:34 p.m., 865 N. Park St. (Montezuma County Combined Courts). A deputy took custody of Sierra Beadle from court security after she was remanded to custody, and she was booked into the Montezuma County Detention Center in case 24CR131.

Monday, Oct. 26

1:37 a.m., 24900 block of Road M. A man reported that during a gathering in his garage the night before, another man got in his son’s face and poked him in the chest, then tried to fight him, and that the two of them fell to the garage floor. He said the other man also swung at him when told to leave the property. He showed the deputy text messages in which the other man demanded his half of some marijuana and threatened to sue over injuries he said he got in the fall, according to the report. The man said he wanted the incident documented, and the report says the case will be cleared by exception, a classification for cases closed without an arrest.

8:45 a.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office). A woman reported that her adult son, who she said hitchhikes to get around, had not been heard from since Oct. 3, which she said was unusual because he called almost every day. She said he was last known to be in Reno, Nevada, heading back to Cortez along Highway 50 for a family gathering, and was supposed to arrive Oct. 10; he had lost his wallet, and calls to his phone went to voicemail. The deputy learned that the last law enforcement contact with him was Oct. 8, when he reported lost property to a dispatch center in Fallon, Nevada. The deputy asked that he be entered in state and national crime databases, and the report lists the case as inactive with leads exhausted; the deputy wrote that the report will be updated if anyone makes contact with him.

2:48 p.m., Road 18 and Highway 491, Yellow Jacket. Someone found a wallet at the intersection and dropped it off at the Cortez Police Department. It held a Utah ID, but dispatch had no phone number for its owner, and a deputy placed the wallet in evidence for safekeeping.

The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office released these reports to the Cortez Current in response to a public records request.