Man arrested after allegedly hitting another man with car in Gallup

A Gallup man was arrested after hitting another man with his car, and the arrest puts a familiar McKinley County question back on the table: whether authorities were dealing with a fight that escalated fast or a deliberate attack with a vehicle. The public-safety roundup published May 29 gave only the headline, but even that brief account placed the case in the same dangerous lane as other recent vehicle-linked assaults around Gallup.

In one federal case from Vanderwagen, prosecutors said Darius Kyran Eskeets, 24, allegedly struck a victim with a motor vehicle on a dirt road near a residence on April 27, then ran the victim over after first driving toward people in the roadway and making a U-turn to veer off the road and up an embankment. The complaint said the victim suffered cuts, bruising, abrasions, contusions, a hematoma and a small pneumothorax. Eskeets was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury, offenses that carried a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Investigators on that case included the FBI’s Gallup Resident Agency, along with Navajo Nation police and criminal investigators.

A second Gallup-area federal case shows the same pattern inside a vehicle. Prosecutors said Dennison Billy, Jr., 35, was charged after allegedly assaulting an adult victim while the victim was driving on Dec. 31, 2025. The victim later reported a fractured orbital wall and fractured nasal bones. In another case, Justin Othermedicine, 22, was indicted after prosecutors said he killed another person while driving recklessly on Aug. 11, 2024. Together, the cases show how quickly a vehicle can shift from transportation to violence, with charges ranging from assault causing serious injury to involuntary manslaughter.

New Mexico court guidance lists assault, aggravated assault, battery and aggravated battery among violent offenses when they involve causing or trying to cause physical injury. That matters in Gallup because a vehicle strike can be treated as far more serious than a traffic collision if investigators conclude the conduct was intentional or assaultive. Anyone trying to track a local case can request records through the Gallup Police Department Records Division at 451 S. Boardman Drive, Gallup, by phone at 505-863-9365 or by email at GPDrecords@gallupnm.gov, and eligible court records are also available through New Mexico Courts’ public access tools.