I-40 bridge leaper foiled
Police stop despondent woman from jumping off Exit 16 bridge

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A local woman threatened to commit suicide by jumping off an Interstate Highway 40 bridge early Thursday morning.

Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, said one of the woman's relatives reported hearing the woman threaten to jump from the bridge at Exit 16 at about 6:30 a.m.

Emergency officials sped to the location and found the woman standing on the bridge; however, she was quickly detained by police and was not injured, Toadlena-Pablo said.

The woman was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation and was not arrested in connection with the incident. She was reportedly on heavy medication at the time.


Burglary, fire
Gallup police arrested a 20-year-old Gallup man on Thursday morning after he allegedly broke into a woman's apartment at the Terrace Hills Apartment Complex.

Eric Olguin was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a charge of breaking and entering at about 1:45 a.m.

Toadlena-Pablo said the woman called police from a neighbor's apartment after she heard someone breaking into her apartment unit on Maloney Avenue. Police arrived at the complex and found Olguin peeking his head out from behind the woman's door.

Officers used an intercom system to call Olguin out from the apartment. He complied and was taken into police custody. Toadlena-Pablo said the woman's door had been kicked in and sustained heavy damage.

County firefighters also responded to a fire at a mobile home near the Mariano Lake Chapter house on Wednesday afternoon.

The fire was reported at about 3:30 p.m., and a woman and two children were transported to the Crownpoint emergency room for treatment of smoke inhalation. Hilda Bowman, the director of county fire and rescue, said the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction and the trailer was destroyed.

Volunteer firefighters from Whitecliffs, Thoreau, Whispering Cedars and Crownpoint also assisted with the blaze.

The trailer's owners are receiving assistance from the local chapter of the Red Cross.

A suspected arson was also reported on Thursday morning at Roadrunner Road. Someone reportedly set fire to a woodpile in the area.