Man accused of attempted kidnapping

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A 46-year-old Ganado, Ariz., man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly trying to kidnap a 7-year-old girl from a local truck stop.

Stephen Gishey was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a felony charge of false imprisonment, according to Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department.

The girl was selling candy for a school fund-raiser at the Love's Truck Stop, 3380 W. Hwy. 66, on Gallup's west side at about 8:30 p.m. when an intoxicated man picked her up and attempted to take her from the location.

The girl's aunt, who was watching her from inside a nearby vehicle, saw the man trying to take the girl and ran to the girl's aid. Toadlena-Pablo said the woman threw the man up against one of the truck stop's walls and held him there until police arrived.

The man was arrested and later identified as Gishey. The girl was not physically harmed during the incident. Toadlena-Pablo said the girl had been selling candy at the truck stop for the past week and liked the location because she made a lot of money.

Toadlena-Pablo said an Amber Alert was not issued because the girl was never taken from the location.