A man found lying on the side of the road after being dragged by an SUV for about three-quarters of a mile was in stable condition at a hospital Tuesday, recovering from massive road burns and other injuries that included losing his lower lip.
The SUV's driver was charged with vehicular assault, police said.
Anselmo Chin-Sabam, 22, of Flanders suffered a broken shoulder and road burns to this face, chest and arms as he was puled along in the underbelly of the vehicle Sunday, state police Investigator Bill Hulse said Tuesday.
Chin-Sabam was in stable condition at Stony Brook University Medical Center, a spokeswoman said.
The driver of the SUV, Alejandro Xuya-Sian, 27, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in Southampton Town Court and was ordered held on $552,500 bail.
He was charged with being in the country illegally, vehicular assault, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident with serious personal injury, and other traffic violations including driving without a license.
State police said Xuya-Sian's blood-alcohol reading taken several hours after his arrest was 0.08, which is the legal threshold in New York for being charged with DWI.
He was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid, which has a policy of not commenting on pending cases.
The case was expected to be considered by a Suffolk County grand jury for upgraded charges later this week, said a spokesman for the district attorney.
Chin-Sabam was struck in a parking lot behind a bar in Riverhead and became somehow "affixed" to the SUV, either on the side or under the vehicle, Hulse said. The driver continued across the parking lot, around a traffic circle and southbound on Route 104. At some point, the SUV turned around and went northbound on the road.
Xuya-Sian told police that he didn't recall hitting anyone but said he heard a noise coming from his front tire as he went around the traffic circle. He told police he discovered Chin-Sabam when he stopped to investigate the noise.
He fled, leaving Chin-Sabam by the roadway, "because he was nervous," Hulse said.
It wasn't clear whether Chin-Sabam fell from the SUV or was removed by the driver.
Xuya-Sian and a passenger in his vehicle, Guillermo Alvarado-Sequen, 37, were then slightly injured when their SUV flipped into a wooded area farther down the roadway.
State troopers later spotted the overturned SUV and then came upon Chin-Sabam, who was conscious but not coherent, in the roadway, said Hulse. They found traces of his clothing along the route that the SUV had traveled, he said.