A Cortez woman who allegedly stole a man’s truck at gunpoint, then shot at him south of Cortez has been arrested and is in custody, according to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office.
Kelsey Lynn Brown, 28, was arrested Nov. 5 on a sheriff’s warrant for attempted first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, menacing and first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, according to Sheriff’s Office reports and an arrest affidavit.
Formal charges have not been filed by the 22nd Judicial District, but are pending, said Assistant District Attorney Matt Margeson. Brown is being held on a $250,000 cash surety bond.
According to a Sheriff’s Office affidavit, on Sept. 26 Brown persuaded a man she knew, Darryl Beall, to give her a ride to Farmington so she could visit her mother.
When they returned to Cortez on Sept. 27, Brown asked that Beall stop at the residence of her male friend on Road 26.5 off Road H.
As Brown and the friend approached the truck, Brown pointed a gun at Beall and told him to drive, according to the affidavit.
After driving for a while with Brown and her friend, Beall claims he was ordered at gunpoint by Brown to stop the 2005 Chevy truck, exit the vehicle, and walk down County Road H after giving up the keys, according to sheriff reports.
The affidavit states that Beall said Brown told him “to walk to the middle of the road because she was going to shoot him.”
A scuffle allegedly ensued as the two walked down the road.
“Darryl decided at that point ... he was going to fight and not stand there and die,” the report states. “Darryl said he grabbed the gun, and then he and Kelsey started wrestling over the gun.”
Beall alleges Kelsey fired two shots from the gun during the struggle. He was not hit, Nowlin said. While on the ground the male friend, who was not identified, allegedly kicked Beall in the head more than once, causing a minor head injury, according to the sheriff and physician report.
The affidavit goes on to state that after Brown got control of the gun, she shot toward Beall, “with the bullet going over Darryl’s head” then “shot two more times out of the vehicle’s window at Darryl.”
Beall fled over a fence as Brown and the male drove away in the truck, the report states. Beall called police, and was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital. He suffered an ankle sprain, abrasions and minor head injury.
After the incident, the Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Chinle (Arizona) Police Department that the stolen truck had been recovered in Chinle.
They reported that Brown had been admitted to the Chinle hospital with a gunshot wound to her knee. She claimed she was picked up hitchhiking by an unidentified male in the stolen truck who shot her.
Brown was arrested by Chinle police for possession of the stolen vehicle, according to the report. She was later extradited to Montezuma County, Nowlin said.
Brown is due in District Court in Cortez on Dec. 10 for a status conference.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
