A Shiprock man with ties to Durango wanted in connection with shooting a woman in the face has been arrested.
The FBI was offering a $1,500 reward for the arrest and conviction of Patrick Lynn Benally, 25, who has relatives in the Durango area.
“Somebody learned about the reward and contacted the U.S. Marshals,” said Frank A. Fisher, spokesman with the FBI in Albuquerque.
Benally was arrested Friday by U.S. Marshals near Morgan Lake on the Navajo reservation, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the FBI.
A federal arrest warrant charges Benally with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.
The shooting occurred Oct. 10 at a housing complex on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Fruitland, N.M.
The victim’s identity have not released.
According to a criminal complaint, The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the left cheekbone.
At some point, the woman said something to the effect of, “Well, just blast me then,” according to a witnesses. Immediately after the statement, a gunshot was heard.
Benally left in a vehicle, and the woman was left holding her face. Witnesses drove her to a hospital.
Benally and the woman are both enrolled members of the Navajo tribe.
He was scheduled to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.
shane@durangoherald.com
