Drug raid is a bust
No meth lab found; two in hospital after fight

Gallup police officers talk with a suspect in their custody Monday morning after entering a house that was believed to be abandoned and finding him and another man inside the residence at the corner of Princeton Avenue and McKinley Drive in Gallup. One of the suspects fled the scene, prompting a foot pursuit. He eventually eluded officers. Drug paraphernalia was found inside the house. Additional information, including the suspects' names, was not available at press time. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Gallup Police officers responded to the report of a possible methamphetamine lab inside a Gallup residence on Monday.

While no lab was discovered inside the abandoned building located at the 600 block of North Princeton, officers did locate illegal drug paraphernalia.

Investigator Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, said firefighters were dispatched to the building in response to a possible fire and meth lab inside. Regional narcotics agents were also called to the scene.

While one man was apprehended at the scene, Toadlena-Pablo said she could not immediately comment as to whether any arrests had been made in connection with the find.

According to early reports, one of the men found at the house fled on foot and was able to elude officers.

The names of the suspects were not immediately available. Toadlena-Pablo was not at the Gallup Police Department Monday, and did not have access to information.


Battling Bustamantes in hospital after fight
Two Gallup brothers remain hospitalized in a local intensive care unit as the result of a fight between them Monday morning.

Toadlena-Pablo said officers used a tazer gun to subdue one of the brothers who threatened to commit suicide.

Police were dispatched to the 1300 block of West Aztec Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. in reference to a stabbing that occurred at the residence.

Toadlena-Pablo said one man stabbed the other in the leg during a fight, then allegedly felt guilty about the act and stabbed himself as a consequence.

When police arrived at the scene, the alleged suspect continually threatened to kill himself. An officer shot the man with a tazer gun to prevent him from causing additional harm to himself, she said.

Both men were transported to a local hospital where they underwent surgery. The suspect reportedly suffered a collapsed lung as the result of his self-imposed wound. The men's first names were not immediately released, but their last name is Bustamante.

Toadlena-Pablo said arrests will be made after the men's conditions improve and they are released from the hospital.


Woman arrested for child abandonment
A local woman was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on charges of child abandonment for locking her two teenagers out of the house.

Gallup resident Maria Ortega, of the 200 block of Western Skies Road, allegedly prohibited her two 15-year-old daughters from entering the residence due to her suspicion that they were using illegal drugs, according to a criminal complaint filed on Dec. 27.

Police found the girls seeking shelter inside a van at about 6 a.m. and subsequently arrested Ortega for allegedly abandoning them.

Ortega will be arraigned on the charges on Jan. 10.