Non-Indian man sentenced for assaulting tribal police officer

Tuesday, January 28, 2014  

A non-Indian man in New Mexico was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for assaulting a tribal police officer.

The incident began on August 28, 2013, when Dallas Chase Barth, 22, stole a postal van at a gas station owned by Ohkay Owingeh. He then led local law enforcement on a high-speed chase to Taos Pueblo, some 46 miles to the north.

At Taos, Barth admitted that he drove the vehicle towards two tribal officers at a high speed with the intention of harming them. One officer jumped out of the way while the other, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, narrowly escaped injury.

Barth ended up pleading guilty to a charge of assaulting an Indian with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to 27 months plus two years of supervised release, the FBI said in a press release.

Get the Story:
Twenty-seven month sentence for driver in Taos Pueblo chase (The Taos News 1/28)
27 months for man in assault case (The Albuquerque Journal 1/28)