Authorities responded to a medical call on Thatcher Boulevard in Safford last Wednesday at a approximately 2:30 p.m. The calling party had reported an unconscious native American female in the area of Dollar General.
When a Safford police officer arrived, he was met by a DPS trooper and a conscious but heavily intoxicated woman that, according to the police report, is known from previous police contacts. The woman, identified as Valencia Kindelay, was wearing a multi-colored headband on her head with the price tag still attached. The officer recognized the price tag as one that is used by Dollar General. He asked Kindelay where she got it and she said that she got it at Dollar General and pointed in the direction of the store. The officer asked if she had stolen the item and she said that she had gotten it out of the Dollar General dumpster.
The DPS officer stayed with Kindelay while the Safford officer went to the store to find out about the headband. The store employees said that they did not remember seeing Kindelay in the store and were unsure if the headband was stolen. The officer showed them a picture of Kindelay and they said that they had seen her in the area of the store but said that she had not come in the store that day. The employees said that Kindelay had been trespassed from the store about a month ago.
While inside the store the officer located the same headbands that Kindelay was wearing. He asked the store employees if they had thrown any of them away. They said, ‘no.’ The officer noted that the headband that Kindelay was wearing appeared to be brand new and didn’t appear to have any defects.
After leaving the store, the officer spoke with another Safford officer who confirmed that he had recently trespassed Kindelay from the store.
The officer spoke to Kindelay again and asked about the headband. Kindelay again said that she had gotten it out of the dumpster. The officer told her that the dumpster is on private property owned by the store and she was not allowed to be there. She was issued a criminal citation for criminal trespass in the 3rd degree.
