Morgan Lake Man Sentenced to 17 Days for Striking Navajo Police Officer With Car While Fleeing Drunk-Driving Stop
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico announced that Kendall Benally, of Morgan Lake, was sentenced to 17 days in custody for striking and injuring a Navajo Nation Police officer with his car. Benally, 43, is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. Upon release, he will be subject to two years of supervised release.
According to court documents, on September 28, 2025, officers from the Navajo Nation Police Department responded to a report of a suspected drunk driver traveling at a high rate of speed and throwing containers from his vehicle. Officers located Benally sitting behind the wheel of a van near Morgan Lake. Benally, who had been convicted twice previously of driving while intoxicated, refused repeated commands to exit the vehicle. When officers deployed pepper spray, Benally accelerated, striking an officer and a civilian and pinning them between his vehicle and a police cruiser before fleeing the scene.
The officer suffered injuries to his elbow, knee and hip that required hospital treatment, while the civilian reported pain and injuries to multiple parts of his body. Benally was located and arrested later that morning. A subsequent breath alcohol test registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.11. Benally admitted to investigators that he had consumed six beers and a double shot of liquor before driving.
Benally pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit a felony. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement. The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack E. Burkhead is prosecuting the case. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部本部大楼（联邦固定图库，公共领域）。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (federal fixed library, public domain).
