Hostage in her own home
Judge bars residents' access to home through their neighbor's property

Amber Evans, a resident off of Twin Buttes Road, has not been able to leave her property since a district court judge ordered Evans not to use this access road to and from her home. This brown gate was locked keeping Amber Evans from leaving. She has not left her home since Friday. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A district judge ruled a McKinley County tenant can no longer use an access road, which she asserts is the only exit from her residence located just off Twin Buttes Road.

Amber Evans, of the 100 block of Twin Buttes, said she feels like a hostage in her own home because she has been unable to leave the residence since Friday allegedly as a result of a court order issued by Judge Joseph Rich.

She said a deep trench and the inability to afford a bulldozer keeps her and her four children from making an alternative route from her property, which is located atop a rocky hill, to Twin Buttes Road.

Louie Montoya, Evan's neighbor, filed a request in district court that Rich prohibit nearby property owner Kathy Williams, and her tenants, from using his access road. According to Evans, the 30 feet by 490 feet path is the only exit from her rented property.

When an Independent reporter and photographer tried to interview Evans in person, at her invitation, a woman at the Montoya residence screamed for them to leave and said the media was trespassing. The interview was instead conducted over the phone because there was no available public path to Evans' residence.

Montoya previously allowed his neighbors to use the road, but a series of confrontations between members of the Montoya family and Evans and her boyfriend Mike Williams allegedly sparked the request. No charges were filed in connection with the incidents.

According to court records, Rich granted Montoya's request on Friday in district court after Kathy Williams failed to show up for the hearing. However, Evans said she did not receive any paperwork that announced the hearing and that Kathy Williams is out of town.

Court records also indicate Montoya asked Kathy Williams' relative years ago if he wanted to help purchase the access road. However, Williams' relative allegedly declined the offer.

In a transcript of the court hearing, an attorney called Michael Williams "the root of the problem" between the neighbors. But meanwhile, Evans said she is stranded without an exit.

"I can't get my two oldest (children) to school," Evans said.

Evans said she called police and they said they could escort her from the property, but they aren't sure how she could get back in. Later on Monday afternoon, a deputy allegedly declined to escort Evans' mother to her residence so she could drop off some medication.

Louie Montoya could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday; however, a family member did refer all comments about the situation to their attorney Bob Rosebrough. Rosebrough did not return the Independent's request.

Peter Simonson, a spokesman for Albuquerque's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the incident does not seem like a civil rights violation.

"It just sounds like this is not something that can be resolved through civil rights litigation," he said.