Long Island
DWI charges for driver who hit, dragged man

BY TOM MCGINTY
tom.mcginty@newsday.com

April 25, 2007, 10:12 PM EDT
A man who prosecutors say ran over a Flanders man with a sport utility vehicle and then dragged him through the streets of Riverhead has been indicted on felony charges of vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an injury accident, as well as driving while intoxicated.

Alejandro Xuya-Sian, 27, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who now lives in Riverhead, left a trail of shredded clothing as he dragged the victim, Anselmo Chin-Sabam, whose body was partly lodged in the front-left wheel well of the SUV, Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides said during his arraignment yesterday in Suffolk County Court.

Xuya-Sian, who first struck Chin-Sabam in the parking lot of Crystal's Bar about 4 a.m. on April 15, stopped the SUV three-quarters of a mile later after hearing rubbing sounds, Stavrides said. He dislodged Chin-Sabam, then left him on Riverleigh Avenue, only to crash two miles down the road, Stavrides said.

Chin-Sabam, 21, is in Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he is being treated for first-degree burns on 60 percent of his body, Stavrides said.

More than two hours after his arrest, Xuya-Sian's blood-alcohol level was measured at .08 percent, the minimum level for a DWI charge in New York, police said. He was convicted last year of driving while impaired and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and did not have a valid license when he struck Chin-Sabam, Stavrides said.

Judge James Hudson set Xuya-Sian's bail at $250,000 cash, noting that he faced "decades" in prison if convicted of all of the charges. He was represented by Legal Aid attorney Bryan Browns, who declined to comment on the case.

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