ALBUQUERQUE - A Crownpoint man pleaded guilty in federal court to strangling a woman and attacking a tribal police officer with a taser.

According to court documents, on March 18, 2025, Jason K. Thompson, 40, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, attempted to strangle Jane Doe. Law enforcement responded to the domestic violence call and attempted to take Thompson into custody. During a struggle with a Navajo Nation Police Department officer, Thompson grabbed the officer's taser and deployed it against him with the intent to injure him. Thompson was then handcuffed and placed in the back of an NPD patrol unit. He later kicked out a window of the unit and escaped, but NPD officers recaptured him that night.

Thompson pleaded guilty to assault by strangulation and assault with a deadly weapon. At sentencing he faces up to 10 years in prison.

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 today.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Probasco is prosecuting the case.