Divine intervention?
Kidnapping, Casuse killing recalled by Garcia

Gallup's year of conflict: ABOVE: Former Gallup mayor Emmitt Garcia recounts his experiences Thursday afternoon to a standing-room only crowd at Universtiy of New Mexico-Gallup's Calvin Hall, talking about his kidnapping and the ensuing gun battle between police and two Native American Activists Larry Casuseand Robert Nakaidene in March of 1973. Casuse was killed during the incident and Garcia still has 56 shotgun pellets in his body from being shot by Nakaidene. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — To this day, Emmitt “Frankie” Garcia believes the only reason he is alive today was because of divine intervention on March 1, 1973, the day he survived at least two attempts on his life by two Native Americans who kidnapped him in his mayor’s office.

The day ended with one death and two people being severely wounded but Garcia survived to tell the tale to ninth-graders and college students here on Thursday. More than 60 students at Miyamura High School attended his speech and the Calvin Hall auditorium was packed with more than 250 students and spectators later in the day.

Both groups heard Garcia give a detailed account of what happened on that fateful day when Larry Casuse and Robert Nakaidine came to town.

On that fateful that morning in 1973, the two were in Albuquerque where they hijacked a car and kidnapped the driver.

Garcia got involved about noon when he received a call from Casuse pretending to be a reporter from Santa Fe wanting to talk about the Indian problems in Gallup. Garcia said he was busy at the moment but would be able to meet the reporter in half an hour.

What he was doing was talking politics with three of his friends — Harry Mendoza, Paris “Pete” Derizotis and Red Abeyta. Mendoza and Abeyta had left by the time Casuse knocked on the door of the mayor’s office and Derizotis got up to open it.

Garcia said he heard Derizotis exclaim, “Oh, no, Larry, don’t do that!” after which Casuse came in with a .32-caliber revolver in his hand. Garcia said he got up and grabbed him and the two wrestled for awhile until Casuse, who was heavier and stronger, pushed him away.

“At that point, he tried to shoot me three times but the gun did not go off,” Garcia said. “He had forgotten to cock the gun, thank God.”

Casuse then realized what the problem was, cocked the gun and fired a shot, which went into the glass on Garcia’s desk, through his chair and into the wall.

At this point, Garcia was holding onto Casuse but he let him up, saying “Don’t do anything. Let’s talk about this.”

Casuse then pointed the gun at Garcia’s head and told him to get down on his knees. It was at this point, Garcia said, that he feared for his life. Casuse told Nakaidine to put Garcia’s hands behind him and place the handcuffs on him they brought with them.

This is when Manuel Gonzales, the city’s police chief at the time, got involved.

He had been in the city manager’s office when a “hysterical woman” came in and said that shots had been fired in the mayor’s office. He ran immediately and from the outer office, saw Casuse holding a gun to Garcia’s head.

He pulled out his gun and yelled, threatening to shoot Casuse, who told him to give up his gun or he would kill the mayor. He refused but Garcia yelled back “Give him your damn gun.”

Nakaidine was told to get the gun and Gonzales said that before he did, he took all of the bullets out so he turned over an unloaded gun.

Casuse then ordered Garcia to get up and they walked out of the mayor’s office with Casuse pointing his gun at Garcia’s head and Nakaidine following. They left by the west door of City Hall and walked across the street, almost getting run over by a car.

They then walked down the west side of Second Street and Garcia said he continued to ask what this was all about. Casuse would only respond by calling him a “bad” or “false” person. When they got down to Route 66, Casuse told Nakaidine to turn left to a sporting goods store but he changed that when Garcia, for reasons he still doesn’t understand, told them the sporting goods store was to the right.

When they got in front of Stern’s Sporting Goods store — which was packed with guns, rifles and ammunition — the door was locked because the owner had gone out for coffee.

Casuse told Nakaidine to break the glass on the door and Nakaidine said “with what?” Casuse told him to use the police chief’s revolver which he did and the three walked into the sporting goods store.

Casuse still had a gun to Garcia’s head. Casuse told Nakaidine to start collecting guns and ammunition in preparation for the gunfight they expected to occur shortly with the police who had been hiding behind their cars outside the store.

Casuse wanted to make sure, Garcia said, that Nakaidine knew out to fire a gun so he told Nakaidine to fire a gun in the air. He then led Garcia over to a knife rack and Garcia said he became worried for the second time that his life was in danger.

Suddenly the phone in the store rang and Garcia suggested that he should answer it. Casuse refused but he also lost interest in the knives. Casuse fired another shot toward the back of the store and Garcia said he became worried that police out front, not knowing what was going on, may start firing.

That didn’t happen but Casuse turned Garcia over to Nakaidine while he walked to the back of the store, leaving the other two in the front. Nakaidine had a gun pointed at Garcia’s back.

“I thought it was a rifle,” Garcia said, saying he was thinking of escaping and hoping that if he was shot, it would be in an area that would not kill him. But Nakaidine had a shotgun. “If I had known that, I would never have done what I did,” he said.

What he did was tell Nakaidine that he was getting tired and slowly began working his way to the counter which was in front of the door with the broken glass. Once there, he began turning around and saw Casuse coming toward them from the back.

Garcia said he saw Nakaidine take his fingers off the trigger of what he thought was the rifle. He then kicked Nakaidine below his stomach and, with his hands still cuffed behind him, dove out the door as Nakaidine picked up the shotgun and fired.

Garcia landed on the concrete with between 65 and 70 pellets in his lower back and buttocks – 56 of them are still inside of him today because doctors thought it would do more harm trying to get them out than leaving them there.

It was then, Garcia said, that Gonzales risked his life to save him.

Garcia stayed down low because he expected a gun battle to begin and he didn’t want to be hit. But Gonzales, who still was not armed, ran up to him and although he was smaller, managed to pick Garcia up and drag him to safety.

It was at that time that the gun battle that Garcia had been expected began, with shots fired from inside the store and even more shots being fired by police into the store from outside. This lasted several minutes until police threw in tear gas and Nakaidine came stumbling out with three or four gunshot wounds.

He yelled to police that an ambulance was needed for Casuse who had also been wounded. Garcia said that there were no shots fired by anyone after Nakaidine stepped out of the store.

When police entered the store, they discovered Casuse was dead.

“I strongly believe that Casuse was killed by the police fire,” Garcia said, adding that the shooting was justified because Casuse and Nakaidine were firing at the police.

He disagreed with reports issued by city police after the incident that Casuse had taken his own life. Police at the time said that the shot that killed Casuse entered from under the chin and went through his head. Garcia, however, believes that Casuse had three mortal wounds.

He said there are those who believe that Casuse was executed by police after the battle was over but he pointed out that Gonzales, the man some Navajos believe was responsible, still had no gun and there were no shots fired after the main gun battle was over.

Garcia and Nakaidine were then taken to the hospital and the abduction was over.

Garcia lost the next election and later moved out of town because of the threats against him and his family.

Nakaidine only served 18 months in jail. Garcia credits this low jail sentence to the fact that he sent a letter to the judge saying he felt it would be “in the best interests of Gallup” if the judge would be lenient.

Garcia said Thursday when he goes to church, he prays for Casuse.