Trespass arrest at the Munoz overpass leads to two drug-trafficking charges

A Gallup police officer patrolling the Munoz Overpass bridge for trespassing on Saturday arrested a man who then tried to run and resisted arrest, the department said.

Officer Gemme was on routine patrol of the bridge, specifically working trespassing complaints, when he encountered Isaac Garcia and moved to arrest him, according to the department's account. Garcia dropped a black bag as he fled, and a civilian helped the officer restrain him during the struggle that followed.

Officers recovered the bag. A .22 caliber rifle was attached to the outside of it and was loaded, police said. A search of Garcia at the time of the arrest turned up drug paraphernalia — a glass bubble pipe with residue — and a pouch on his bicycle was seized and held pending a search warrant.

Garcia was initially charged with battery upon a peace officer; resisting, evading or obstructing an officer; criminal trespass on private land without written permission; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Gemme later obtained and executed the search warrant. It produced U.S. currency, 5.4 grams of a glass-like substance that presumptively tested positive for methamphetamine, and about eight blue pills presumed to be fentanyl, the department said.

Garcia now also faces two felony counts: possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

On Monday, Aug. 31, a resident contacted Officer Gemme to say the bicycle in the case was his and had been stolen, the department said. He recognized it in the photographs police posted to Facebook. Gemme recovered the bicycle when he made the arrest, and police said it is being returned to its owner.