A Carson City man died Friday from injuries he suffered in a fight the previous night, according to the Carson City Sheriff’s Office.
According to the men’s arrest reports and Sheriff Ken Furlong:
Deputies were called to the Stanton Arms apartments about 8 p.m. on a report of a stabbing. They found Leon Arellano Pacheco, 61, unconscious and apparently not breathing and administered CPR.
Pacheco was taken to Carson Tahoe hospital, then taken by Care Flight to Renown hospital. Two hours later, he had a CT scan and was declared brain-dead.
Deputies learned the people suspected in the beating had fled in a Chevy Impala. Two witnesses said they’d seen Pacheco arguing with another man in the parking lot, and that the other man had been drinking with three additional men. One of the men pushed Pacheco, the witnesses said, and Pacheco ran to his car and got a long, metal stick that resembled a machete.
Pacheco tried to strike one of the men, who overpowered him, struck him in the fact with a bottle and punched and kicked him in the head, stomach and back as he lay on the ground. The men then fled.
A detective received an anonymous tip at 1:23 a.m. Friday that the men were Alfredo “Freddy” Santiago, 29, and Ruri “Rudy” Santiago, 27, both of Carson City. The tipster also gave the men’s address. A deputy did a Web and Facebook search for Santiago and learned he had a brown Impala similar to the one described by a witness.
At 2:30 a.m., detectives and Special Enforcement Team deputies found a brown Chevy Impala on Northgate Lane, behind the mobile home complex where the men live. At 6:35 a.m., deputies found Ruri Santiago driving in the area of Interstate 580 and College Parkway. He was taken into custody without incident.
Ruri Santiago consented to an interview and said he’d got in an argument with Pacheco, who then chased him with a machete. He said that once Pacheco was on the ground, he kicked him in the face. The deputy learned Ruri Santiago had a violation-of-a-suspended-sentence warrant out of Carson City.
About 10:47 a.m., deputies found Alfredo Santiago on Woodside Drive. He was taken into custody and consented to an interview, during which he confirmed the confrontation.
Both men were being held without bail Friday at the Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony battery causing substantial bodily harm and on Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds. Asked whether their charges will be upgraded to murder Monday, Furlong said that’s up to the District Attorney’s Office.