A 27-year-old Towoac man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and later dragging a woman up to 200 feet behind the vehicle when confronted by the owner about the theft.
Durango Police Department Cmdr. Jacob Dunlop said a man parked his mother’s 1999 Jeep Cherokee outside the Speedway gas station at 901 Camino del Rio on Tuesday and went inside the store to get a drink.
When the man came out of the store about five minutes later, the car was gone, Dunlop said.
The man alerted police around 2:30 p.m. and gave officers access to a tracking application that followed pings off his cellphone, which was left in the car at the time it was stolen.
About 20 minutes later, the tracking application showed the car was somewhere in the Durango West-Rafter J area, a few miles southwest of Durango.
The mother and son drove to the area to look for the car and spotted it at the end of Deer Trail Road, off County Road 142.
The mother reported to authorities she found the car, and then she approached the vehicle to confront the person who took it. Dunlop said a driver and a passenger were inside.
Dunlop said someone inside the vehicle grabbed the woman and sped off, reaching speeds of 30 mph, dragging the woman 100 to 200 feet before letting go.
The woman suffered significant injuries, Dunlop said. Once law enforcement arrived at the scene, the woman said she could wait for EMS and directed officers toward the area where the car drove off near Lake Nighthorse.
A New Mexico State Patrol officer found the stolen car near County Road 210, which leads to Lake Nighthorse. The passenger fled the scene, Dunlop said, but the driver was detained without incident.
The driver has been identified as Rudy Eric Talk. He is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, Dunlop said.
Talk was charged with criminal attempt at vehicular homicide, a Class 4 felony; second-degree assault, a Class 4 felony; aggravated robbery, a Class 3 felony; aggravated motor vehicle theft, a Class 5 felony; second-degree kidnapping, a Class 3 felony; and reckless endangerment, a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Dunlop said the woman was treated and released from the hospital. He said authorities have yet to identify the passenger, and it is unclear whether the person will face charges related to the incident.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
