Police Blotter

A man witnesses said waved a handgun and threatened to kill people outside Blondie’s Trophy Room on East Main Street early Friday, Oct. 30, was arrested on felony menacing charges, and two people with him were arrested after police said they hid the loaded pistol, according to Cortez Police Department reports.

The following items are drawn from 25 incident reports released by the Cortez Police Department for Oct. 29 through Nov. 4. 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.

Thursday, Oct. 29

2:04 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Tyler Jones turned himself in at the jail on an active failure-to-appear warrant. After a medical clearance at the hospital, he was booked on the warrant, in case 21T149.

4:35 p.m., 11th Street and South Market Street. Officers arrested James Scrivner Jr. on an active warrant on a dirt road off the intersection. He was booked into the jail on the warrant, in case 25M645.

5:09 p.m., 24001 Road G.2 (G-Whil’s Liquor). Two callers reported a pickup swerving and nearly hitting another vehicle. An officer saw it pull into the liquor store’s lot and drive over a concrete parking barrier. The driver, Clint Laner, smelled strongly of alcohol, had an open can of an alcoholic drink in the cup holder and told the officer, “I am not safe to drive,” according to the report; dispatch said his license was revoked. After he was handcuffed he resisted, hit his head against the patrol car and was placed in a full-body restraint. At the hospital he refused a blood draw, a judge issued a search warrant, and his blood was drawn that night. He was booked into the jail on behalf of a Montezuma County sheriff’s deputy, who made the arrest; the police report does not list the charges.

7:02 p.m., 921 E. Main St. (Speedway). Earlier in the evening, in the hospital emergency room, Raelena Kuebler had asked an officer why Laner was being arrested and, when told he was going to jail, yelled at officers and threatened them, according to the report. Dispatch then received a string of 911 text messages from her phone that were not emergencies. An officer found her in the Speedway parking lot at Mildred Road; she tried to get past him and resisted being handcuffed. She was booked on charges of resisting arrest and obstructing government operations.

Friday, Oct. 30

1:13 a.m., 45 E. Main St. (Blondie’s Trophy Room). A caller reported a man threatening to pull a gun on people at Blondie’s, and a man nearby told a sergeant he had seen a man waving a gun and threatening to kill people. Officers found three people matching the description in the alley east of the bar. No gun was found on Antonio Gallegos, but an officer found a loaded Glock pistol hidden in the clothing of Taeya Gallegos, and the sergeant said he had seen Calvin Skelton help hide it, according to the report. Witnesses told officers that Antonio Gallegos had pulled the gun in the street outside the bar and that the woman with him appeared to be trying to stop him. Antonio Gallegos was arrested on charges of felony menacing and prohibited use of a weapon; Taeya Gallegos on charges of accessory to felony menacing, prohibited use of a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon; and Skelton on charges of accessory to felony menacing and prohibited use of a weapon. All three were booked into the jail on felony holds.

12:22 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Theron Benally, brought to the jail from another facility, was served with a warrant for assault in case 25M45. He told the officer he had not known about his court date because he was in custody at the time.

1:01 p.m., 2212 E. Main St. (West Slope Liquors). A clerk reported that Takoda Blueeyes had taken a bottle of whiskey. An officer found him nearby with the neck of a bottle sticking out of his jacket pocket; he admitted taking it, and store video showed him slipping it into his sleeve, according to the report. He was issued a municipal summons for shoplifting the $9.65 bottle and a trespass notice that does not expire, and the bottle was returned to the store.

1:33 p.m., North Park Street and East Montezuma Avenue. An officer on patrol saw Jonathan Nez, who had active warrants, and arrested him. He was booked on two county court warrants, in cases 26CR5027 and 26CR5028, and a Cortez municipal warrant, DC2612815.

5 p.m., 200 block of East Main Street. Staff at a day center reported that Jess Lansing would not leave. An officer found him highly intoxicated on a couch; he exposed himself to the officer and kept doing so after being told to stop, according to the report. He was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital and issued a municipal summons for indecent exposure and a trespass notice from the center.

5:29 p.m., North Park Street and East Montezuma Avenue. An officer on patrol saw Whisper King, who had an active warrant, and arrested her. After a medical clearance at the hospital, she was booked into the jail on the warrant, in case 26M213.

10:48 p.m., 921 E. Main St. (Speedway). An officer saw an SUV traveling east on Main Street with no headlights on and weaving out of its lane; when the officer stopped it, the driver drove over a curb into the Speedway lot, according to the report. The driver, Nicholas Morfin, told a sergeant he had about four drinks of tequila at a bar and then drove, and he could not complete roadside sobriety tests. After a medical clearance at the hospital, he was booked into the jail for driving under the influence, DUI per se, failure to drive in a single lane, failure to display headlights and failure to show proof of insurance.

Saturday, Oct. 31

11:16 a.m., 700 block of East Fourth Street. A woman reported that a neighbor’s dog had come into her yard and frightened her daughter, and that the neighbor, Ann Akin, cursed at her when she asked her to keep the dog out. Akin told an officer her dog is old and deaf and had wandered over; a video the woman’s husband provided showed someone off camera answering her with profanity, according to the report. Citing the dog’s earlier visits to the yard and the language, the officer issued Akin a municipal summons on Nov. 1 for having a dog running at large and disturbing the peace.

7:15 p.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). Officers sent to a reported assault found Shane Ketchum on the ground, bleeding heavily from his face. A witness said a man had struck him, knocking him out, and that the man and his family then left, according to the report. A records check showed an active Cortez municipal warrant. Ketchum was arrested, taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital and then booked on the warrant.

Sunday, Nov. 1

2:04 p.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). The store’s asset protection officer reported that Matthew Aguirre, who has been permanently barred from the store since 2015, had taken a shopping cart and a traffic cone. An officer found him nearby with both and had him return them to the loading dock. Aguirre was issued a municipal summons for trespass and theft.

3:37 p.m., 600 block of South Market Street. Officers called to a domestic disturbance found the trim ripped off a bedroom door and holes punched in the walls, and Robert Phelps, in a back bedroom, yelled profanities and threatened to fight them, according to the report. When officers went in, Phelps threw a TV that struck a sergeant as the sergeant sprayed pepper spray into the room, and officers took him to the floor and handcuffed him. After a medical clearance at the hospital, Phelps was booked on a felony hold for first-degree assault on a police officer. The report lists his girlfriend as a victim of harassment and domestic violence.

7:51 p.m., 520 W. Main St. (Burger King). Officers sent to a crash found a car that had hit a light pole in the drive-through and two women fighting at the driver’s door. An officer said Karlee Tsosie was in the driver’s seat; she said she had been the passenger, according to the report. After roadside sobriety tests and a blood draw at the hospital, Tsosie was issued a summons for driving under the influence and careless driving and booked into the jail. The other woman, who officers said had been hitting her, was detained, but Tsosie did not want to press charges.

Monday, Nov. 2

1:41 p.m., 425 N. Roger Smith Ave. (Cortez Recreation Center). A man reported that his backpack, holding a pair of Nike basketball shoes he valued at $134 and other belongings, had been taken at the Recreation Center the day before. Security video showed Wilson Jones pick up the backpack and cover it with a coat, according to the report. Jones said he had found it and given it back, but the owner said it came back empty. Jones was issued a summons for theft. A second man seen on the video has not been identified.

4:10 p.m., 500 block of South Madison Street. Officers called to a disturbance at an apartment were told that Clint Laner had attacked a woman and others there. After people at the apartment gave conflicting accounts of who he was, an officer identified Laner, asleep in a back bedroom, from his tattoos, according to the report. He was taken into custody, banged his head against the patrol car on the way to the hospital and was placed in a restraint there. He was later served a summons for third-degree assault and domestic violence at the jail.

Tuesday, Nov. 3

1:28 a.m., 400 block of South Ash Street. An officer called to a fight found Taylor Davies holding a man on the ground outside an apartment. The man was bleeding heavily, his eyes were swollen shut and he had trouble breathing; a .22-caliber pistol lay on the ground nearby, and the man later said it was not his. Davies told the officer the man had come to his home with Davies’ wife, Katrina Thompson, tried to get in and threatened them, and that he choked the man and hit him seven or eight times in self-defense, according to the report. The officer found the self-defense claim was not supported by where the fight took place, and Davies was arrested for second-degree assault. A neighbor’s security video later showed Davies on top of the man hitting him for more than 10 minutes before he called 911, and Thompson kicking the man in the head, the report says. Thompson was found later on Road 26 and booked on a felony hold; the report does not list her charge. The injured man was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital.

10:08 a.m., 508 E. Main St. (City Market). An officer sent to a report of a man sleeping by the loading docks found Jonathan Nez, who had been permanently barred from the store in March, unresponsive. He was issued a municipal summons and taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital.

11:24 a.m., 1580 E. Main St. (Safeway). An officer stopped a car leaving the Safeway lot for failing to signal. A records check showed an active warrant on a drug charge for the back-seat passenger, Mark Westbrook, and a search turned up what tested positive as methamphetamine in a flashlight by his seat, in the purse of the front-seat passenger, Michelle Elliston, and in a loaded syringe in an overhead compartment, according to the report. Westbrook was charged with felony methamphetamine possession; Elliston with misdemeanor methamphetamine possession and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription; and the driver, Davey Espinoza, with misdemeanor methamphetamine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. All three were taken to the jail.

2:54 p.m., North Harrison Street and East Montezuma Avenue. Officers were sent to a fight near City Market. A man and his mother told an officer that Rutherford Mills Jr. took the man’s phone from his hand, and witnesses said Mills grabbed the mother by the hair and threw her to the ground before her son fought him, according to the report; two people showed the officer videos of the fight. After a medical clearance at the hospital, Mills was booked into the jail on a summons for harassment and disorderly conduct.

7:53 p.m., Road L near Road 26. An officer stopped a pickup clocked at 60 mph in a 40 mph zone on Road 26. Dispatch said the driver, Fidel Cordova, had a felony warrant for failure to comply in a theft case and that his Colorado license was revoked. He was arrested and booked on the warrant, in case 25CR191, and issued a traffic citation, and the pickup was released to its registered owner.

Wednesday, Nov. 4

8:20 a.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Taylor Davies, held at the jail since his Nov. 3 arrest, was served with a warrant in case 26CR116.

3:34 p.m., 730 E. Driscoll St. (Montezuma County Jail). Craig Lacey Jr., who had been brought to the jail, was served with a warrant in case 25M576.

Twenty-two of the 25 reports say they were drafted with Axon’s Draft One software from the officer’s body-camera audio and reviewed by the officer.