Two fights broke out at the American Legion in Cortez in fewer than 24 hours, with the first fight including alleged threats with a knife.
On Jan. 10 around 10:41 p.m., Cortez Police officer Shannon Jennings responded to the American Legion, 320 N. Harrison St., after receiving a report of a fight that involved a knife.
When Jennings arrived, she aided officer Michael Rivas in detaining a woman, who was later identified as Willow Dooley.
Dooley was reportedly “screaming” at other women in the parking lot. A knife with an approximate 3-inch blade was found on her person. Jennings’s report noted that Dooley was suspected of being intoxicated.
Officer Jason Giacchino spoke with Martika Myers, who told him that Dooley had been “harassing and following her around the bar all night.” A bartender named Cole McKinney corroborated Myers’s story, saying he noticed Dooley following Myers. When Myers began speaking to a man at the bar, Dooley allegedly approached her and said she would stab Myers.
After McKinney told the women to leave, he followed them to the parking lot, where Dooley allegedly told Myers again that she would stab her. According to the incident report, Myers grabbed Dooley by the hair and pulled her out of the building.
Once outside, Dooley allegedly opened the pocketknife, saying, “I’m going to gut you, (expletive).”
When McKinney returned to the parking lot after obtaining Dooley’s phone inside the bar, he reported that he saw Dooley “with the knife, blade showing, waving it at the other females.”
After Dooley was medically cleared at Southwest Memorial Hospital because of her suspected level of intoxication, she was taken to the Montezuma County Detention Center, where she provided a breath sample with a BRAC of 0.165.
Dooley was booked at the jail on suspicion of felony menacing and disturbing the peace.
On Jan. 11 about 8:17 p.m., Jennings was dispatched to American Legion again for a fight involving multiple people.
When Jennings arrived, Sgt. Vance Carver was attempting to speak with a man identified as Sergio Perez Navarette. Navarette reportedly refused to speak with police and ran from them before he was arrested on suspicion of harassment, protection order violation (being around minors while under the influence of alcohol), disorderly conduct and obstructing a peace officer.
Officer Giacchino spoke with a woman named Kody Cullum, who said another woman, identified as Teshawna Simp, had punched her “with a closed fist” in the left eye and scratched her on the chest when she refused to go outside with her. When Cullum’s mother, Marcy Begay, walked into the American Legion, Simp allegedly began punching Begay in the face.
Jennings noted that Begay had several lacerations on her face, blood on her lips and blood around her eye.
A bartender at the legion, Gary Dausch, confirmed that Simp had been beating up Begay. Dausch added that Navarette had “harassed” people at the bar all night and joined the fight that Simp started.
A woman attempted to help break off the fight, but the report alleged that Simp bit her finger, causing bruising and a small cut.
Both Navarette and Simp were cleared at Southwest Memorial Hospital before being transported to the Montezuma County Detention Center. Simp was booked on suspicion of third degree assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
