Thoreau teen ID’d as crash victim

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — A 15-year-old Thoreau teenager was killed in a weekend traffic accident along Sundance Coal Mine Road.

The victim was identified as Thomas Qasam, according to a supplemental report released by the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department.

Navajo police officers and McKinley County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Sundance Coal Mine Road in reference to a one vehicle rollover Saturday night.

“A passenger in the vehicle appeared to be critically injured. He was identified as Thomas Qasam, 15 years of age,” the report reads.

Qasam later died from his injuries.

No additional details were included in the report and the investigation was turned over to the Crownpoint District of the Navajo Police Department. A lieutenant for the agency did not immediately release information about the accident to The Independent.

Dolores Logterman, principal of Rehoboth High School, said five boys, three of which are Rehoboth Christian School students, were involved in the crash. The teenagers were on their way home from an outdoor event when the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle.

The vehicle subsequently rolled and ejected one of the passengers. The driver was identified as William H. Newman, according to the report. The Rehoboth High School passengers are Levi Hale, an 11th-grade student; Tyler Bostic, a 12th-grader, and Anders Berg, a 12th-grader. The driver and other three passengers did not sustain serious injuries.

“They are shaken up and have some bumps and bruises,” Ron Polinder, executive director of Rehoboth Christian School, said.

The school’s faculty extended their sympathy to the family of the teenager who was killed.

“We’re feeling so horribly for the family who lost their son,” Polinder said. “ ... Again, our sympathies are extended to the family.”