City man is bound, dragged
Arellano remains in critical condition

Independent Staff

GALLUP — A 32-year-old Gallup man remains in critical condition at an Albuquerque hospital after he was bound by the ankles and dragged by a vehicle for more than a half a mile early Easter morning.

No suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident; however, Gallup detectives are interviewing persons of interest.

Fausto Arellano, a single father of two, reportedly had his ankles tied together before he was strapped to a vehicle and dragged along both Dairy and Patton streets at about 4 a.m. on Sunday.

While police refused to speculate on the motivation for the incident, some residents have said Arellano left his home after hearing someone breaking windows in his vehicle. It was then that the unidentified assailants tied him to a vehicle and drug him through the streets. Blood streaks on the pavement bore witness the heinous crime, which was similar to an incident in Texas several years ago when a black man was dragged to his death.

Arellano was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque for treatment of the injuries he sustained due to the dragging.