nm g&f officer under investigation

[hidollarday]

Game and fish officer under investigation

This photo taken by Olin Clawson, shows someone apparently shooting at a deer from a pickup. Clawson says what appears to be a muzzle flash can be seen just to the left of the vehicle. [courtesy photo]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP ? A New Mexico Game and Fish enforcement officer stationed in the Ramah area is under investigation for shooting a deer out of season.

Dan Brooks, chief of the law enforcement department of the state agency, said Thursday that the investigation of Craig Sanchez is under way but would release no details about the reason for the investigation.

He said that an officer out of the Ramah area has been made responsible for conducting the investigation. He gave no timeline as to when the investigation will be concluded.

The investigation stems from a complaint filed against Sanchez by Olin Clawson, the assistant electrical superintendent for the city of Gallup.

Clawson said that he saw Sanchez as he was leaving his Ramah home in the early hours of Sept. 24. Sanchez was watching a deer and Clawson said he was curious so he pulled his car over and watched as Sanchez pulled a rifle out of his car and shot the deer. Clawson said he had a camera with him and took shots of Sanchez.

Attempts to get hold of Sanchez, who has been stationed in the Ramah area for almost the past decade, on Thursday for comment were unsuccessful.

Clawson said this wasn?t the first time he and Sanchez had a disagreement.

About five years before, he said, he had found a dead elk and reported it to the Sanchez, asking if it was possible if he could get the head to have it mounted.

According to Clawson, Sanchez told him that to get it, he would have to bid for it at the end of the year.

But several months later, Clawson said, he was at Clifton Electric and saw that same elk?s head mounted on the wall. ?When I asked where it had come from, I was told Craig Sanchez,? Clawson said.

He said he filed a complaint at that time against Sanchez but nothing came of it.

This was almost the same in this case.

He said when he first filed a complaint back in September, nothing happened and when he called the state agency to find out why, he was told that there was no complaint filed.

But he refused to give up and decided to go to papers in Gallup and Albuquerque with his story. Last week, he met again with state officials who agreed to initiate an investigation.

The investigation of Sanchez comes almost two months after the director of the state agency was convicted of shooting a deer without permission on private land.

Bruce Thompson received 182 days in jail but the Lincoln County magistrate suspended the time and placed him on probation. His defense was that he thought he was on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land, based on coordinates of his GPS unit.
Friday
April 11, 2008
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For the birds ? One-of-a-kind birdhouses going up for auction

Fight for de Chelly

Game and fish officer under investigation

Deaths

Area in Brief

Native American Section

Native American Section

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[nmelk13]

He has been cleared of all charges.

 

[hidollarday]

how do you figure?

 

[nmelk13]

LAST EDITED ON May-27-08 AT 12:42PM (MST)[p]From the ABQ Journal this morning at 7 am

Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
11-year Game and Fish employee had been accused of shooting a deer from his truck.
An investigation by the McKinley County District Attorney's Office and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has concluded that a complaint against Conservation Officer Craig Sanchez was based on insufficient and conflicting evidence, according to a Game and Fish news release.

Olin Clawson of Ramah had complained to the department that he saw Sanchez chase a deer with his pickup truck, then shoot the deer while seated inside the truck last Sept. 24, 2007, the release said.

While Sanchez has never denied he was hunting deer that day, he maintained that all his actions were lawful, according to the release.

Photos provided by Clawson that showed an unknown male allegedly shooting from a parked pickup truck were found to be "very blurry and grainy," according to a DA's investigator.

And a re-enactment of the alleged incident by investigators found that Clawson was likely 740 yards away when he took the photos and that Sanchez was standing outside his vehicle when he shot the deer, the release said.

Two other witnesses told investigators that Sanchez was not chasing or harassing the deer, Game and Fish reported.

An 11-year veteran of the department, Sanchez was fully licensed and had written permission from a private landowner when he shot the mule deer buck during the fall muzzleloader season, the release said.

As a result of the investigation, District Attorney Karl Gillson declined to prosecute Sanchez, according to the release