Robber gets nine months

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A 23-year-old woman will spend nine months in jail for her role in the Dead Horse Mustang robbery last year.

Tanya Yazzie pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated battery pursuant to a plea agreement offered by Assistant District Attorney Kerry Comiskey.

District Judge Grant Foutz sentenced Yazzie on Monday to nine months in custody at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center and agreed to suspend the remaining two years and three months of the jail sentence once she completed a probationary term.

Yazzie, Julio Smith, Cerelle Dawes and Rhonda Lynn Smith were arrested for their parts in the Aug. 8, 2005, robbery of the Mustang convenience store. The group lured one of the store's clerks to the parking lot by asking for assistance with a broken-down vehicle. Once the clerk was outside, Yazzie struck him with a metal bar. Meanwhile her accomplices, allegedly stole an unknown amount of liquor from behind the store's counter. Alcohol reportedly contributed to the robbery. A store security camera captured the entire incident and led police to the suspects.

Julio Smith, Rhonda Lynn Smith and Dawes have yet to be sentenced.


Robbery suspects sought
Gallup police are searching for suspects in connection with two weekend robberies before the suspects' actions escalate into more violent crimes.

Sunday's incidents mark the second and third armed robberies in less than a week, Investigator Erin Toadlena-Pablo said.

Police were dispatched to the Alsup's convenience store, 112 Arnold St., at about 6 a.m. after a pair of masked men fled the location without any cash, despite their demands to store employees.

The two Hispanic men, who wore bandannas to cover their faces, initially told a clerk to hand over the store's cash. But when a second clerk walked into the store while talking on a cell phone, the men fled.

"They probably figured the second clerk was on the phone with police," Toadlena-Pablo said.

The men fled the store without any cash, but did grab handfuls of cigarette lighters during their exit; however, most of the lighters were later recovered in the store parking lot.

According to witnesses, at least one man was armed with a bat and both men were wearing hooded pull-over jackets.

Toadlena-Pablo said police are awaiting the store's security camera footage to continue their investigation.

During a second incident, Pizza Hut north employees reported an armed robbery at about 9:40 a.m.

This time a man, armed with a handgun, got away with an undisclosed amount of money with the assistance of the driver of an older model, white Toyota pickup truck. The vehicle's license plate was missing.

The African American man, described as at least 5 feet 8 inches tall, entered the store through an unknown entrance because all of the restaurant's doors were locked, Toadlena-Pablo said. The man wore both a bandanna to cover his face and a baseball cap. Witnesses were unable to provide investigators with any additional description of the first suspect, but described the driver as Caucasian and as wearing his long hair in a ponytail.

Police have yet to determine whether the incidents are connected. Anyone with information about the robberies, is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 722-6161.