Woman aided shot Navajo deputy

ALBUQUERQUE — A woman living in a small community on the edge of the nation’s largest American Indian reservation saw flashing police lights down the road from her home one night and assumed it was her neighbor getting stopped for driving drunk.

As she got closer, she saw someone lying along the road, suspecting the person had passed out from drinking. But then she saw the stripe running down his pants — a police uniform.

It was Navajo Nation Officer Houston James Largo, lying face down and bleeding.

He was shot in a deadly encounter that authorities say began with alcohol-fueled domestic violence.

The woman’s account of finding the officer that March 11 night is detailed in a criminal complaint that does not identify her but charges Kirby Cleveland with the killing of the 27-year-old decorated officer.

Aside from highlighting the dangers faced nationwide by tribal police officers who often must patrol vast jurisdictions alone, the shooting has Navajo leaders and community members acknowledging the scourge of alcohol and the constant reports of domestic violence.

The call for a change resonated during Largo’s funeral last week as family, friends and Navajo President Russell Begaye noted that police officers on the reservation, which covers rural parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, are putting their lives on the line each day.