Friday, Aug. 1
6:36 p.m. A father enjoying the day at the Cortez Skate Park with his son was soon recognized by a Cortez police officer as having an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The officer explained to the man that he had to arrest him because he had an outstanding warrant and proceeded to ask the man to walk away with the officer so that he did not have to arrest him in front of his child. Instead of complying with the request, the man got upset and continued to show off his skate-park moves. The officer again told the man he was under arrest, at which point the man started to run. The officer tackled the man. The officer told him again he was under arrest. Instead of submitting, the man wrapped his arms around the officer’s neck and began to fight with him. Eventually, the officer was able to arrest and subdue the man, who was told he was under arrest for his original warrant and for additional charges involving resisting arrest. The officer received some minor cuts and road rash from the incident.
Saturday, Aug. 2
3:03 p.m. A man was reportedly standing in the middle of the road on North Park Street with his pants around his ankles, something police officers had seen him do the previous day. When the man saw an officer approach, he pulled up his underwear, but left his pants where they were. When asked to pull up his pants, the intoxicated man was unable to do so. Meanwhile, families were arriving at the park for a swim meet. The man continued to explain to the officer that he simply could not keep his pants up. The man was then placed under arrest, at which time the officer pulled up his pants for him.
7:09 p.m. a stolen vehicle was recovered in Cortez that had been reported stolen in Hobbs, N.M. A potential car buyer became suspicious when someone tried to sell him the black Ford Escape for $1,000. Instead of buying, the potential buyer called the police.
Wednesday, Aug. 6
12:29 a.m. An altercation was reported at the new Maverik Country Store. The altercation started when one man accused another of trying to “push drugs” on his girlfriend. The altercation turned physical when someone threw a “haymaker punch,” which eventually resulted in a scuffle on the ground and a broken watch.
Saturday, Aug. 9
3:03 p.m. An unknown naked male apparently entered a trailer home in Cortez and was bleeding from the head and asking for help. When officers arrived, they were told that the man was jumped by an unknown group of people, who took his clothing and stole his phone and wallet. When the man woke up after the altercation, he ran to the first place he saw. The man was left in the care of paramedics. After some investigation, others told officers they were trying to help the man when they saw he had a head wound, they let him take a shower and were laundering his clothes when without warning, the man jumped out of the shower and ran out of their house without his clothes. The naked man then changed his story and said that it was the woman in the house that assaulted him and that he ran out of the house naked because he feared for his safety and that he wouldn’t press charges if they gave back his wallet and phone. However, the naked man was arrest because of an outstanding warrant, no further charges were filed because of inconsistent stories and lack of evidence.
5:58 p.m. Police arrived at City Market after hearing a report than a woman was having a problem starting her car and appeared to be intoxicated. The woman told police that she had “a lot of beer.” The officer informed the woman that according to provision of her jail bond, that she was not allowed to have alcohol. She was then transported to the county jail.
Sunday, Aug. 10
12:27 a.m. A man with a bloody forehead told officers he had an altercation with a man holding a large knife and threatening to kill him. The man then lunged at him with the knife. He was then able to knock the knife from the man’s hands. The man then proceeded to knock the bleeding man down and take $260 from him. The bleeding and now cashless man then tried to get away in his car. The man, who was formerly holding a knife and is now $260 richer, then took a cinder block and threw it through the fleeing vehicle’s window. The fleeing man then threw the cinder block back at the alleged knife wielder and reported he also drove into the aggressor’s car. The man was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. When police started looking for the reported knife wielder, they had no luck. At one point, the alleged knife wielder called the police department and asked why the police were looking for him. He then told an officer he would be right over to the police department. The officer waited three hours and he never showed.
Monday, Aug. 11
11:00 p.m. An intoxicated man was reportedly jumping in front of vehicles on West Seventh Street and South Broadway. When asked by an officer what the man was doing, he replied he was just walking and had a hard time maintaining his balance while speaking to the officer, that is when two closed Budweiser cans fell from his partially opened backpack and landed on the ground. At that point, one of the cans punctured and sprayed all over the officer. The intoxicated man then tried to pick them up and almost fell over. The man was then arrested and issued a summons for intoxicated pedestrian in the roadway.
Tuesday, Aug. 12
11:17 a.m. A man who reportedly had just been released from jail that day, was caught by Wal-mart employees shoplifting women’s underwear, a bra and a package of men’s socks. The man said he asked people for money after he got out of jail earlier, but they wouldn’t give him money. The man was taken back to jail and the total of his shoplifted items rang up at $23.90.
Wednesday, Aug. 13
12:51 p.m. A man was observed at a local store walking a bicycle out of the store after tearing off the tags and not paying for it. When asked why he would do such a thing, he said his bicycle had been stolen on the previous night and he needed a new one and didn’t have the money to buy one because he had been laid off from his job. The man was issued a summons for shoplifting.
Thursday, Aug. 14
1 p.m. An off-duty sheriff’s deputy from Idaho reported leaving his personally owned gun in the bathroom stall of a local big box store. When the deputy later realized he left his gun in the stall and went back inside, the gun, which was inside a fanny pack, was gone. Police reviewed the security footage from the store and identified a man carrying the fanny pack out of the bathroom, but did not get a positive identification. The man then appeared to show the fanny pack to a woman, who then put it inside of a purse. The couple then left in a grey quad cab Dodge pickup truck with not visible license plate number. The couple apparently made two transactions and police are in the process of tracking down the owner of the credit card used in the transaction.
friday, aug. 15
3:16 p.m. After responding to two separate calls about the same man harassing customers near a local grocery store and a video store with his pants down, but no one wanted to press charges, police responded again when the same male started banging on the front of a man’s truck and trying to pick a fight with him while he waited in the pharmacy drive-through. When officers arrived, the man was still yelling at random customers and was using vulgar language. When police asked the man to stand up, his pants fell down. The intoxicated man was arrested for disturbing the peace and transported to the hospital because of his high level of intoxication.
saturday, aug. 16
9:52 p.m. Police responded to a caller who was upset about a dog barking at him and trying to bite him. When officers contacted the man, they learned the man was walking across people’s yards and told the man that dogs would leave him alone if he stayed out of their yards. The man was intoxicated and later in the evening called 911 again and yelled at dispatch for sending the police. The police found the man again and explained that it was their job to respond to 911 calls. At this time, the intoxicated man was arrested for continually walking in the middle of the street and issued a summons for intoxicated pedestrian in the roadway. He was transported to the hospital for medical clearance for his high level of intoxication. Before being arrested, the man told the officer he was looking for his dog. The officer, after dropping of the man at jail, later found the dog and returned it to the man’s yard and then called the jail to ease the worries of the intoxicated dog owner.
Tuesday, aug. 19
9:16 p.m. A man was arrested for shoplifting at a local big box store after he was observed taking off a pair of shoes, trying on a pair of new boots and placing his old shoes back in the box. He also took some panties for his girlfriend and attempted to leave the store without paying for any of the items.