A man was charged with child abuse when he got into a fight with a minor outside of the Gallup Indian Medical Center.
On Jan. 9, around 8:45 pm, Gallup Police Officer Jarad Albert was dispatched to GIMC, 516 E. Nizhoni Blvd., when two men began fighting outside the hospital. When Albert arrived at the scene, he met the two men who were fighting. One was identified as a minor, and the other was identified as Fernando Largo.
According to Albert’s report, the minor told him that he was sitting in a vehicle in the GIMC parking lot with Largo, 32. Largo was in the driver’s seat while the minor was in the passenger seat. The minor said he thought Largo was going to take the vehicle’s keys, so he grabbed the keys from the ignition and held on to them.
Largo demanded the keys, but the minor would not give them to him. That’s when Largo started insulting the minor and said that his father “doesn’t love him.”
The minor said he ignored Largo by looking at his phone, but that’s when Largo allegedly punched him in the side of the face and then crawled on top of him. Largo kept punching him, but he was able to open the passenger side door, and both of them fell out of the vehicle.
The minor said that Largo “was swinging everywhere toward him,” so he began “swinging back.” The fight continued, until the minor saw some nurses walk out of the hospital, and he yelled for help.
As security arrived, the two men were separated, and Largo was placed in handcuffs. However, he was able to escape from the hospital security, and he reportedly attacked the minor again while he was still handcuffed.
While security was trying to remove him from the minor, he bit the minor’s leg. The minor said he could feel Largo “chewing” on his leg.
Two GIMC nurses at the scene said they had walked outside to pick up their food when they heard scuffling, and they saw the two individuals fall from the car.
Largo was charged with child abuse. His preliminary examination is scheduled for Jan. 25.
Staff Reports
