Two separate incidents left two men in the hospital after vicious attacks Friday and Saturday mornings. Both victims claim three men assaulted them, while authorities are trying to find out if the crimes are related.
“It’s possible,” said Lt. Ray Shupe, public-information officer with Durango Police Department, about a possible connection. “We’re following active leads.”
Durango police detectives are investigating one early-morning incident Friday in which a man was beaten and robbed near El Rancho Tavern, in the 1000 block of Main Avenue.
Durango police officers responded to an assault in progress at El Rancho about 1:47 a.m. Friday morning. They found no victims or suspects but did discover blood.
Soon after, officers were dispatched to Walmart, 1155 Camino del Rio, for reports of an injured man.
Police found Yulises Hernandez Ruiz, 32, of Bayfield, severely beaten at that location, according to a news release issued Sunday by the DPD.
Video surveillance revealed that Ruiz was ejected from the passenger side of a dark-colored, extended-cab pickup.
Ruiz, who was intoxicated at the time, was found by police to be a Mexican national who spoke little English. He was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center and treated for nonlife-threatening injuries.
On Saturday, officers and a translator interviewed Ruiz, and he told them he was at Moe’s Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Avenue, before he was confronted by three other Mexican nationals in the alley behind the building. He said he was attacked by two of the men while the other tried to stab him, but he was protected by his leather coat.
Ruiz told officers he was able to get away but was then struck in the head and knocked to the ground near El Rancho, at 10th Street and Main Avenue, where the beating continued. There, he told officers, his wallet was taken. He was knocked unconscious, according to the report, and loaded in the vehicle and taken to Walmart where his attackers pushed him from the truck.
In the other incident, on Saturday, a man was stabbed nine times by three unknown attackers just before 3 a.m. The victim, Daniel Craig, 24, is listed in fair condition, said David Bruzzese, public-information officer with Mercy, on Sunday.
Craig, of Durango, was riding his bicycle through Rank Park on the Animas River Trail near the 2200 block of north Main Avenue when he was assaulted by three men.
Police found Craig lying down near the Durango Youth Center, in the 2300 block of north Main Avenue, and took him to Mercy for treatment.
Craig told police that he did not know his assailants, and they took his bicycle after the attack. He was also unable to give a good description of the men but told officials they had dark complexions and spoke English and Spanish.
If you have any information regarding these incidents, contact Detective Trish Hutchens at 375-4733 or Detective Sergeant Deck Shaline at 375-4729
bmathis@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story erred by saying Yulises Hernandez Ruiz was assaulted with a bat.
