News

An Arizona man has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and dragging a pit bull behind his truck on north Main Avenue in Durango.

The incident was reported about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday by witnesses who saw a dark-colored pickup dragging a chain with a dead dog on the end, according to an arrest affidavit.

One witness said he was driving behind the truck on Main Avenue near 33rd Street when he “noticed something dragging behind the vehicle and then realized it was a dog,” according to law enforcement.

The witness said he got the truck to stop near 29th Street, and when he told the driver he was dragging his dog and it was dead, the man behind the wheel said, “I know,” according to arresting documents.

The driver, who according to multiple witnesses was visibly intoxicated, exited the vehicle and took the dog off the chain, which was attached to the bed of the truck. He left the dog in the middle of Main Avenue and drove away, turning right onto 29th Street and north on West Second Avenue.

Two witnesses took pictures of the man in an orange shirt as he exited his vehicle. Witnesses immediately reported the incident, including a description of the man and his vehicle.

While Durango police were investigating the scene, a La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputy located the vehicle and driver in the 100 block of East Animas Road (County Road 250), about 1½ miles east of where the dog was found, according to the arrest affidavit.

The arresting officer “immediately recognized (the suspect) and the truck from the pictures that the witnesses had provided,” law enforcement wrote in arresting documents.

The driver was identified as Nathan Begay, 41.

Begay was arrested on suspicion of aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class 6 felony, and misdemeanor driving under the influence. Begay was driving on a revoked license out of Arizona.

“I spoke with Begay and asked him how much he had to drink,” the arresting officer wrote in his report. “He said he had a little bit, when I asked him to clarify, he told me that he drank 12.”

Police found empty beer cans in the bed of his truck, according to an arrest affidavit.

“I asked Begay if he felt like he was safe to be driving and he said that he was not,” a Durango police officer wrote in arresting documents. Begay refused to perform roadside tests or take a breath test.

It was not immediately known if the dog belonged to Begay. The dog had injuries to its paws and face.

Begay is scheduled to appear Friday for an advisement hearing in La Plata County Court.

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