SUV gets torched in the Chuskas

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

FORT DEFIANCE — A man from Flagstaff is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for torching his vehicle while it was parked on the mountain near Crystal, N.M.

Rick Charlie of Flagstaff said he and several of his friends went hunting Jan. 8-9 when his 1996 Nissan Pathfinder suffered two flat tires due to road conditions. He said he left his vehicle beside the road, and when he returned on Monday, he found that numerous items had been removed from the Pathfinder.

"That wasn't enough. They had to go and torch my vehicle," Charlie said. Timothy Barber of Shiprock Police District is investigating the incident, which occurred between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Milepost 8.5 on Narbona Pass Road.

Charlie said his vehicle was "back in there about 2-1/2 miles. I don't know if they thought it was a white man's vehicle or a Native American's vehicle. All I know is they had vandalized and torched it. It was a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder. It was a beautiful vehicle. It was in excellent condition. It was metallic gold with tinted windows and Arizona plates," he said.

And the best thing is, it was paid for. "It was a 4-wheel drive and they're not cheap," Charlie said.

The weather conditions were terrible, and "nobody in their right mind would be going in there," according to Charlie. "I had one flat tire trying to get out there because the conditions of the road were pretty bad. It was muddy and it was drizzling, and snow was coming down at times. It was bad enough as it was. Anybody in their right mind would not go in there."

"I feel really violated. I'm a Navajo, and I feel that I should be able to go and hunt on my own land and not be persecuted for being on the east side of the district," Charlie said.

There were only a few individuals back in the area of the mountain where Charlie's party was hunting, he said. "By the time I got there the next morning, Monday morning, it (the Pathfinder) had been torched. The fire was already totally out and cooled down. I got there around 7 a.m.," he said.

Charlie, an artist, said some of the items taken include a two-way radio with Global Positioning System, a digital camcorder, and another camera. In addition, a portable easel valued at around $500 was taken and approximately $600 worth of pastels were destroyed.

"It seemed to me they were trying to get into my hatchback, like they had tried to pry it open," Charlie said. "Everything was totally torched. There was nothing noticeable but just metal."

Navajo Nation Law Enforcement and Navajo Nation Rangers were notified of the incident and evidence was recovered at the scene. The incident is under investigation.

"It just totally destroyed all my friends' hunt. We just packed up and left that day," Charlie said.