Girl charges man beat her, stole baby
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — District attorneys are working to keep a Gallup
teen in jail so that he, his parents and his baby won't run to
Alaska and not face court over charges that he beat his 16-year-old
girlfriend while she held their baby.
Magistrate Judge George Galanis had to deal with the case on
Wednesday and on Friday. On Wednesday, Galanis dismissed charges
of aggravated battery against a household member and child abuse,
both felonies, against Ronald Brown Jr., 19, of 1413 Red Rock
Drive, after defense attorney Steve Seeger appeared with a signed
document for non-prosecution from the victim, Vanessa Lee, 16,
of the same address, a prosecution witness who did not appear
that day for Brown's probable cause hearing in the battery.
Then on Thursday, Gallup Police arrested Brown again after District
Attorney Bernadine Martin signed out a warrant for his arrest
for the same charges. On Friday, Brown appeared again before
Galanis for arraignment on the warrant.
Meanwhile, his parents turned over Lee to the Navajo Nation Social
Services and kept their 2-month-old baby. Lee's parents are dead,
and the Browns were able to obtain guardianship of her, which
they turned over to the Social Services.
Martin and other employees of the 11th Judicial District Attorney's
Office have not been able to meet with her.
Brown is accused of battering Lee outside their home, where they
live with his parents, Ronald Brown Sr. and Catilda Brown, on
May 31, according to a Gallup Police report and the court document
requesting Brown's arrest.
Lee told police she and her boyfriend were arguing, and she left
the house, carrying their 2-month-old baby boy in her arms. He
followed her and he started hitting her and she fell on her back,
holding the baby close, according to reports.
When she fell, he grabbed the baby and began running with the
baby, according to the police report. Lee said she screamed for
the baby, and a neighbor came out of her house.
Brown stopped running and sat down. He gave the baby back to
Lee.
Lee went to Gallup Indian Medical Center for treatment for herself
and the baby. The hospital staff called the police.
Lee suffered a broken nose and several bruises, according to
reports, and the baby was uninjured.
On Friday, Martin told the judge that the Browns were trying
to take their son and grandson to Alaska to avoid prosecution
and to keep the baby away from his mother.
The Browns told Galanis they — the parents — planned
to go to Alaska, but they were not going to bring the baby to
Alaska, one of the parents would stay in Gallup with the baby.
"Everybody has the right to reasonable bond," Galanis said, referring
to the bond of $50,000, that was agreed to by District Judge Joseph Rich. "I
don't know why them going to Alaska makes him a flight risk."
Galanis set Thursday as his new date for a preliminary hearing — and
he told Martin she had better have witnesses and be prepared
for the hearing.
"You have my sympathy," Galanis told Ronald Brown Sr. and Catilda Brown, "but
sympathy doesn't always cut it. Obviously, there's a history of problems."
He reduced the bond to $25,000 cash or surety bond.
"How do we keep her from coming to our house?" Catilda Brown asked
of the prosecutor.
Galanis said he couldn't give legal advice but they could talk
to Seeger.
After the hearing, the Browns said the district attorney's office
employees came into their home to talk to their 16-year-old daughter
and didn't have their permission to talk to her.
They didn't want to comment at length about the case but said
they would have more to comment about later about how Lee was
as a mother.
Catilda Brown said Social Services "intervened" and
took Lee from their home after she reported her boyfriend beat
her. She said she has nothing to do with Social Services not
bringing Lee to court last week.
"How can Social Services hide somebody?" she said.
The Browns said they would comment more after the case against
their son's charges have been resolved.
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Man is stabbed in chest by a stranger
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — A man stabbed in the chest, a child left alone in a
hot car and a drunken man shoplifting cowboy hats topped Monday night
reports from the Gallup Police.
No one has been arrested yet in the stabbing of Milton Teller, 42,
of Fort Wingate.
Dispatchers sent police to Gallup Indian Medical Center around 1
this morning after a man came to the hospital with a stab wound.
Teller told police that some time after midnight, his friend, Tom
Begay, was driving Teller's pickup truck, and they gave a ride to
an man about 5-feet, 9-inches tall and 230 pounds, according to the
police report.
Teller said the man was either Native American or Hispanic, about
30 to 35 years old, wearing a red shirt, red cap, black pants and
had long hair in a ponytail, wrote Officer Tod Heaton in the report.
The stabbing victim said they gave the man a ride to apartments off
of Maloney Avenue. As the man was getting out of Teller's pickup
truck, Teller said the man stabbed him in the chest and then ran
away, according to the report.
Teller said he never saw a knife.
Teller said Begay drove him to Gallup Indian Medical Center, but
medical staff said a woman brought Teller in. He had a cut on the
right side of his chest about 2 inches wide. A physician said the
wound cut into muscle and did not penetrate the chest wall, according
to the report.
Somehow, Teller's truck turned up missing. Police put out an "attempt
to locate" bulletin over the radio to other police and other
agencies, but no one found the black truck.
Officers couldn't find Begay or any other witnesses. Officers searched
for a possible suspect but couldn't find anyone.
Teller "did not state that he wished to report his vehicle missing," Heaton
wrote.
Later this morning, Detective Franklin Boyd found the truck and Begay
in Fort Wingate. Begay confirmed Teller's story of the stranger stabbing
him.
In other police news Monday, a woman informed District Attorney's
Office Investigator Jon Avery around 4 p.m. that she found a 4-year-old
alone in a vehicle parked in front of 1702 E. Highway 66, according
to the Gallup Police Department. The windows were down about 2 inches
and it was about 91 degrees F.
Avery saw that the child was crying in the car. He was alert and
not sweating.
Avery and police met with the child's grandmother, who said the 4-year-old
was asleep in the car seat and she didn't want to wake him, so she
left him while she went shopping.
The woman who reported the incident said the child had been in the
car for about 15 minutes. No one was arrested, although the offense
listed on the report is child abuse or neglect, a felony.
Lt. John Allen was appalled at the incident because of the hot weather. "This
is unacceptable. We ask everyone not to leave children in a vehicle
unattended," Allen said.
In other news, an employee of Western Warehouse reported seeing a
man who appeared to be intoxicated and took seven Stetson Cowboy
hats and one Wrangler hat. He put several on his head and carried
two as he ran out of the store.
Mall security caught the man, identified as Melvin Nelson, 41, of
Rock Springs. Store employees said the hats he tried to steal
have a total value of around $600.
Police arrested him and charged him with felony shoplifting, according
to the report.
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Church Rock squatters get new digs
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
CHURCH ROCK — You wouldn't think asking residents living in
ramshackle triplexes that predate World War II to move into new homes
valued at $125,000 each would be much of a problem.
Vice President Beth Cascaddan of the Fort Defiance Housing Corp.,
which is developing and will manage a total of 69 new homes at Church
Rock Indian Village Estates, said the corporation is bending over
backward to accommodate the 61 relocatees. Ten homes are ready for
occupancy now and another 10 will be ready within two weeks.
More are on the way. The three- and four-bedroom homes offer new
appliances, cathedral ceilings, two-car garages and 13 floor plans
to choose from, among other features.
Leases are being prepared, with some tenants to pay sliding-scale
rent and others who do not have employment to pay either no rent
or "negative rent," which means "0 rent plus utilities
paid up to $100 per month."
Cascaddan said the dilapidated triplexes — none of which meet
building codes and some whose bended-inward ceilings are held up
by plastic — will be demolished one at a time as residents move
into their new digs just hundreds of feet away. These triplex housing
is called "Kinlitsoh sinili."
The tenants moving away from them are, in effect, squatters who moved
in after barracks builders at Fort Wingate Army Depot moved out.
They never had leases with the Navajo Nation but were accommodated
with utility services.
"Every one of them is getting a home (at Church Rock Indian Village Estates)
and they all qualify," said Fort Defiance
Housing's Shirley Yellowfeather, who wants to be the on-site manager.
Only two of the squatters would not receive homes — because
they own already existing homes — but that can be rectified
if they transfer those homes into their children's names, Yellowfeather
said.
As good as Cascaddan and Yellowfeather say that subdivision construction
and tenants leases are proceeding, some of the soon-to-be-former
squatters still express some reluctance to make the move.
One to-be-leasee to receive a new home in tandem with his wife, who
would only identify himself as "Mr. Peterman," said it
was basically the no-choice offer given tenants that was difficult
to swallow. The quality of the new homes themselves is the easy part
to accept, he offered.
"It's a done deal," Peterman said. "So we have to deal with it.
That's what makes it hard for me."
Peterman said he's a self-employed silversmith who will be asked
to pay $277 in monthly rent for a three-bedroom home. He worries
about making enough income to pay his rent, but was ready for the
move some time ago.
"To tell the truth, if they had given us our lease before now, we would
be in there," he said.
Cascaddan and Yellowfeather point to a lone holdout, Mervyn Tilden,
as upsetting fellow to-be tenants with his claims that the whole
arrangement is, in his words, a case of forced eviction. Cascaddan
noted that Tilden has turned in his housing
application and knows what his rental terms will be.
Yellowfeather said Fort Defiance Housing Corp. has made every effort
to be as fair to Tilden as to any other future tenants.
Those efforts included a meeting Thursday where once again, the corporation
spelled out who will be the first occupants in the subdivision, going
by a phase-in system.
"We're trying to do good things for (Tilden), so I don't know why he's doing
this," Yellowfeather said.
Tilden, when asked Monday whether he will move into Church Rock Indian
Village Estates and accept his rental terms, replied: "Like
I said, I've seen no paperwork that says that will be the case."
The pace at which the tenant leases are proceeding is not to Tilden's
satisfaction. "There are no contracts for anybody at this time," he
said.
Monday morning was supposed to involve a press conference conducted
by Tilden. Instead, he answered a few questions by the Independent
before going to Gallup to retrieve paperwork from the Diocese of
Gallup. The papers concerned who has control over the former Catholic
church building on the site — residents who want a community/arts
and crafts center, or Fort Defiance Housing. Fort Defiance Housing
wants to use the former St. Philip Church as its combined office
space in tandem with a police substation and student computer center.
McKinley County Sheriff's and New Mexico State Police officers arrived
at the scene Monday morning, there to respond to Tilden's complaint
that Fort Defiance Housing employees "broke our padlocks."
Cascaddan, however, said her employees had every right to break them
because the corporation's master lease is being updated to include
the church. The officers left and Fort Defiance Housing's efforts
to clean up the church interior proceeded.
Letters from Deacon Jim Hoy of the Diocese of Gallup written within
the past year appear to contradict one another as to who is entitled
to occupancy. One letter, dated July 10, 2001 and directed to Edison
Wood of the Navajo Land Department, states that the Diocese has no
objection to a request by Albert Shirley and Velia Silva to turn
the former church into "a craft center for local artists."
It was quite evident Monday that no arts center has been developed
over the past year. Fixtures within the church, such as light hookups,
had been vandalized. The church structure remains sound.
Another letter from Hoy, sent May 16 of this year to Fort Defiance
Housing Corp. President Everett Ross, said the Diocese "would
certainly have no objection to you permanently taking over the (church)
building at Church Rock."
Addressing Fort Defiance Housing Corp., Tilden said, "This (Catholic
building) is just an example of how they're steamrolling over us."
The tenant called "Peterman" described Tilden as the lone
holdout, saying it's probably time to put differences aside and move
into new homes as soon as possible.
"He (Tilden) is useful in some ways, but he's involved in too many outside
activities," Peterman said.
Cascaddan said Church Rock Indian Village Estates will strictly adhere
to a "one strike and you're out" policy. That means there
will be no liquor abuse, drug abuse, theft of property or other violations.
Any tenant who commits such a violation will be evicted after their
first violation.
Cascaddan said Navajo tribal law clearly shows that Tilden should
not be causing trouble for other tenants who look forward to their
new homes.
"We've got jurisdiction (over the former church)," she said. "He's
trespassing." Title 16 of the Navajo Nation Code prohibits the possession
or use of Navajo land without permission, she added.
The Navajo Housing Authority has given Fort Defiance Housing a vote
of confidence. NHA Director Chester Carl has called Cascaddan "one
of the hardest working people" on the reservation.
"We have full confidence in Fort Defiance Housing Corporation to take care
of this situation, and any situation for that matter," NHA spokesman George
Joe said.
However, the beat of opposition goes on for Tilden. "The silence
of our Navajo leadership only serves to undermine our personal and
national sovereignty as this corporation bulldozes our Navajo Bill
of Rights," he said in a prepared statement.
"No outside business entity should have more rights than individual Navajo
citizens."
Before the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA)
was implemented in the mid 1990s, Carl brought congressional delegates
to the Navajo reservation to show them how poor Navajo housing conditions
were, Cascaddan said. The Church Rock tenements was one of those
sites.
Cascaddan described NHA and Fort Defiance Housing Corp. as two of
the main leaders forging a new path in Indian Country housing, where
it concerns high-quality, low-cost affordable homes.
"The problem is, we're always being held under a microscope because we're
breaking new ground," she said.
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Sinkhole cracks county detention center
walls
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — County Commissioner Harry Mendoza has been busy in
recent days dusting off his I-told-you-so speech in light of reports
that cracks are now appearing at the McKinley County Detention Center.
"I told you so," Mendoza said last week in bringing up the subject
after a county commission meeting.
Several years ago, when the adult detention center was just brand
new, Mendoza said he had concerns about the structure because of
past experiences with government buildings experiencing cracks and
sinkholes after just a few years of operation.
So he told the unusual step of asking the contractor if he would
give the county a guarantee that the building was shipshape and would
remain so for its first decade at least.
"He said he had no problem signing such a guarantee but his attorney wouldn't
let him," said Mendoza.
So skip ahead several years (to a period of a few weeks ago) and
the discovery by officials for Management and Training Corp. (who
run the detention center) of cracks along the tops of the wall in
the center's recreation area.
"When we discovered that crack, we began looking other places and we discovered
more cracks," said Warden Julian Martinez.
It turns out that the cracks may have been started by a sinkhole
just to the north of the center. The cracks are apparently spreading
to the building next door used by the magistrate courts.
Both buildings are owned by the county and County Manager Irvin Harrison
said that he has taken a tour of the buildings and saw the cracks
firsthand.
So far, he said, county officials have not been able to determine
just how serious the problem is.
An official for an Albuquerque contracting firm has looked the buildings
over and says the cracks are serious enough that they should be looked
over by an engineer. Harrison said that the county is waiting for
another inspection by Ray Mitchum of Roswell, who did the design
of the building before any determination is done on possible repairs.
Scott Clark, who is MTC's chief security officer, said he has been
watching the cracks because from a possible safety concern.
If the cracks affect the integrity of the building, he said it was
possible that some of the inmates may take advantage of that and
try to escape.
Currently only about half of the beds at the detention center are
being used as MTC lost its contract to house female inmates from
Idaho.
And while it is doubtful that the population of the facility will
reach capacity levels in the near future (the county commission has
indicated that it does not plan to renew MTC's contract at the end
of this year), Martinez said he doubted that having all of the beds
full would put any greater burden on the structure.
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Funding and assistance available for
Native Americans
Stan Bindell
Special to the Independent
SCOTTDALE, Ariz. — Funding and technical assistance is available
for Native American entrepreneurs.
Roger Boyd, program manager for the Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFI) Funds- a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury-spoke
about the program during the 22nd annual Arizona Indian Town Hall
in Scottsdale.
CDFI uses federal resources to invest in and build the capacity of
private, for-profit and non-profit financial institutions throughout
the U.S. As the manager for CDFI's Native American program, Boyd
designed and directed the fund's congressionally mandated Native
American Lending Study.
This study identified the key national barriers and impacts of accessing
capital and equity on Indian reservations.
Boyd, who is Navajo, said the funding is based on the 1994 Riegle
Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act, which had the
intent of serving economically underserved areas. He said that Indian
reservations remain the most economically underserved areas.
Boyd, who established the Navajo Nation's Governmental Affairs office
in Washington D.C. and then served as director of the Navajo Nation's
Division for Economic Development, said although the Act was passed
in 1994 that a new grant program has made the loans and technical
assistance more available.
He noted that $5 million has been set aside for training and technical
assistance. These funds can be used to build the capacity within
these communities to manage, own and operate their own financial
institutions.
The program can also provide access to capital and credit.
Boyd concluded that regionalism works, be inclusive, build toward
sustainability and use self-determination to determine the direction
that the business should go in.
Boyd urged Navajo entrepreneurs, or stakeholders, to not isolated
themselves.
"It's important to invite non-tribal people to the table," he said.
Boyd said Navajo entrepreneurs have faced the following problems
in the past:
* Lack of Knowledge experience with the financial world;
* Conflicting or ineffective federal programs and regulations;
* Limited use of trust land as collateral;
* Poor understanding of tribal sovereignty and sovereign immunity;
and
* Lack of networking with Native American owned businesses.
Boyd's recommendations are:
* Lending institutions need to develop a presence through branch
offices. Wells Fargo has done this on the Navajo Nation, and he praised
Wells Fargo for having a Navajo, Jennifer Hatathlie, in charge of
the local branches.
"That's what we want," he said.
* Lending institutions need to develop models for managing risk that
will address non-traditional profiles:
* Providing technical assistance to Native American entrepreneurs;
* Work with tribes to develop new financial products tailored to
meet their particular needs.
* Facilitate links to financial markets.
Boyd said tribes can help by:
* Developing tribal legal systems and commercial guidelines for business
development;
* Develop tribal courts; and
* Adopt commercial codes.
Boyd said the CDFI will help by supporting creation of financial
institutions, supporting financial literacy and small business
education.
Throughout his career, Boyd has worked with tribal governments, federal
agencies and the private sector to explore and
develop opportunities for Native American communities with the goal
of establishing self-sustaining economies.
His work has included the development and implementation of federal
policies, economic and community development
ventures, housing and business development. He has held positions
in the offices of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, BIA,
Department of Interior and has worked for members in the U.S. Congress.
He holds a BA in architecture from the University of New Mexico and
a MA in city and regional planning from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Those seeking more information can look at the fund's web page at
www.cdfifund.gov.
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Begay tries to restore candidacy
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — A high-profile Navajo presidential candidate,
Council Speaker Ed T. Begay, is scheduled to have his disqualification
hearing at 2 p.m. today.
The Election Administration disqualified the powerful legislator
for having his permanent residence off the reservation. The Gallup
telephone directory lists his address as 1105 Martinelli Drive
in Gallup, and almost all his candidacy documents list that address...
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Great Race classics rolling through Gallup
Over 100 vintage cars to compete in rally
race
Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Special to the Independent
GALLUP — Fans of classic cars will be in for a treat Wednesday
when downtown Gallup will be filled once again with over 100 vintage
automobiles and unusual vehicles whose drivers are competing in
the 20th anniversary of The Great Race.
Like last year's event, driving teams will be arriving on Coal
Avenue, between 1st and 4th streets, for a lunch stop hosted in
downtown Gallup. And like last year, the event will kick off at
10:30 a.m. with a performance by the United States Navy Band. Community
members are invited to greet the driving teams as they arrive in
town...
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Serra Club honors priests, vocations
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A group of Roman Catholic lay people
honored their priests with a banquet Monday, providing a bright
spot in the turmoil over sex abuse allegations that has surrounded
the church.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe dealt with millions of dollars in
lawsuits after similar sex scandals a decade ago. Archbishop
Michael Sheehan said the archdiocese worked through it with a
policy of "no tolerance" for abusers...
Deaths
Sarah S. Olivar
GALLUP — Services for Sarah Olivar, 79, will be held at 10
a.m., Wednesday, June 19 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic
Church. Father Diego Mazon will officiate. Burial will follow at
Sunset Memorial Park.
Olivar died June 11 in Gallup. She was born March 18, 1923 in Gallup.
Survivors include her sons, Tony Castaneda of Baldwin Park, Calif.
and Max Cuellar of Gallup; daughters, Liz Cisneros,
Barbara Olivar and Helen Perez all of Gallup; husband, Benny Olivar
of Gallup; sisters, Sophie Cordova of California,
Mildred Dietrich of Belen and Aurora Vega of Helper, Utah; 13 grandchildren;
24 great-grandchildren and two great-great
grandchildren.
Olivar was preceded in death by her parents, Adela and Juan Sanchez.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Peter L. Teller
TSE BONITO — Services for Peter Teller, 69, will be held at
10 a.m., Wednesday, June 19 at St. Michaels Catholic Church. Father
Gilbert Schneider will officate.
Teller died June 13 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. He was born July 2,
1932 in Ganado, Ariz into Bigwater People Clan for the One
Who Walks Around You People Clan.
Teller was a rancher, baker in Chicago, carpenter for BIA in Fort
Defiance. Laborer for Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining
Company.
Survivors include his wife, Maggie Teller; sons, Lawrence P. Teller,
Peter L. Teller Jr. and Alexander Teller both of Lower
Greasewood, Ariz.; mother, Agnes Teller Owens of Cross Canyon;
brothers, Joe L. Teller of Chicago, Ill., Abraham Teller of
St. Michaels, Ariz., William Teller of Gallup, Tom Owens Jr. of
Colorado Springs, Colo. Chester Owens of Shiprock; Richard
Owens of Kinlichie, Ariz. and Leonard Owens of Rock Springs; and
sisters, Helen Largo and Maybel Lily both of Cross
Canyons, and Catherine Owens of Tuba City, Ariz.
Teller was preceded in death by his father, Askie Teller and grandparents,
Dick and Ason-Bah Teller.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Valentina Mary Martin
SANOSTEE — Services for Valentina Martin, 13, will be held
at 10 a.m., Wednesday, June 19 at Mesa Baptist Church,
Sanostee. Pastor Bobby Boyd will officiate. Burial will follow
at family cemetery, Sanostee.
Martin died June 14 in Albuquerque. She was born June 29, 1988
in Bernalillo.
Martin was a student at Newcomb Elementary School. Her hobbies
included drawing and listen to music.
Survivors include her parents, Naomi Benally of Sanostee and Pasquale
Martin Jr. of Phoenix and grandmother, Lucy Benally
of Sanostee.
Pallbearers will be Jonathan Bodie, Derrick Begay, Eric Smiley,
Trevor Nez, Harry Henderson Jr. and Brandon Chavez.
Benjamin Johnson
CHINA SPRINGS — Services for Benjamin Johnson, 42, will be
announced at a later.
Johnson died June 16. He was born Dec. 29, 1959 in Gallup.
A family meeting will be held at 5 p.m., tonight at Rock Springs
Chapter.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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