Drunk school bus driver receives felony charges
CASE TURNED OVER TO FBI; DRIVER ON RECOGNIZANCE
TRY OUR NEW ICED PROTEIN COFFEE! Staff Reports
A
n
i n v e s t i g a t io n by t h e McKinley County Sheriff’s Office and the Navajo Nation Police resulted in the arrest of a former Chichiltah-Jones Ra nch Community School bus driver on charges of felony child abuse after he took students on a drunken bus ride. According to tribal police reports, Duane Aaron Skeet, 48, picked up 18 students, ages 5 through 14, on the afternoon of Sept. 24 and drove them home while intoxicated, causing many of them to cry and plead for him to
6
stop the bus. School officials said they received reports from parents shortly after Skeet began his route. The parents said as Skeet dropped children off, they ran up to their parents crying and telling them their bus driver was drunk. One of the parents, when told of the situation, got in her vehicle and drove after the bus. When she was able to get Skeet to stop, she confronted him and confiscated the bus keys. The three remaining children on the bus immediately ran out of it. When MCSO Deputy Monty Yazzie arrived at the scene, Skeet agreed to take a portable breath alcohol test and he blew a .172. The legal limit on the reservation is .10. Since the arrest was made on the reservation, Skeet was
Friday November 23, 2018 • Gallup Sun
swerving. At one point, they said, the bus nearly f lipped over as Skeet took a cur ve too quickly. He repor tedly hit something that damaged the bus door and kept it from closing. Skeet admitted to drinking four tall cans of beer earlier in the day. When asked why he came to work drunk, he said he had to because there was a shortage of bus drivers. The case has been turned Duane Skeet turned over to tribal police who arrested him on charges of DWI and endangerment of children. W he n i nt e r v iewe d by police, students said they were scared and crying as Skeet drove along the route,
THANK YOU ADVERTISERS Amazing Grace Personal Care - 19 Auto Works - 12 Bubany Insurance Agency - 9 Butler’s Office City - 19 Castle Furniture - 3 City of Gallup - 17 Crime Stoppers - 12 Gallup Housing Authority - 5 Gallup McKinley County Schools - 2 Gallup School of Strength - 9 High Desert Cycles - 10 Highlands Ranch - 20 Lucky Loans - 11 Maloney’s Nutrition - 6 Quintana’s Music - 10 Pinnacle Bank - 18 Rico Auto Complex 11, 24 Small Fry Dentistry - 16 Thunderbird Supply Co. - 6, 8 TravelCenters of America - 10 Uber/Lyft - 4 UNM-G - 7
over to the FBI and Skeet was charged with major child abuse in federal district court. He is currently out on his own recognizance.
Gallup Sun Publishing, LLC Publisher/Editor Babette Herrmann Assistant Editor Mia Rose Poris Accounts Representative Raenona Harvey Calendar Editor Lealia Nelson Photography Cayla Nimmo Knifewing Segura Correspondents Cody Begaye Design David Tsigelman Cover: A corralled horse during a Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture voluntary sale Sept. 21 in Ganado. To keep track of the surrendered horses, some are spray painted. Photos by Cayla Nimmo The Gallup Sun, published Fridays, is not responsible or liable for any claims or offerings, nor responsible for availability of products advertised. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Gallup Sun distributes newspapers in McKinley, Cibola and Apache counties. Office: 102 S. Second St., Gallup, NM 87301 The Gallup Sun, pending USPS number 1, is mailed weekly. Application to mail at periodical rates is pending in Gallup NM. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gallup Sun, PO Box 1212, Gallup, NM. Mailing Address: PO Box 1212 Gallup, NM 87305 www.gallupsun.com Phone: (505) 722-8994 Fax: (505) 212-0391 gallupsun@gmail.com Letter to the editor/guest column ACCEPTED BY EMAIL ONLY. State full name and city/town. No pen names. ID required. All submissions subjected to editor’s approval. Guest columnists, email Sun for submission requirements.
NEWS