A Durango man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for an attempted carjacking that resulted in a woman being seriously injured.
Lionel Mario Charley, 30, approached the woman on June 15, 2022, in an underground parking garage at Animas Surgical Hospital as she was walking to her 2014 Dodge Avenger, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
Charley asked the woman multiple times for a ride to Farmington, according to the plea agreement, and the woman repeatedly refused.
Charley said the woman eventually allowed him into the vehicle.
The woman agreed to take Charley as far as Aztec. As she drove in that direction, she noticed an odor of alcohol coming from Charley, according to the plea agreement.
During the ride, Charley asked the woman if she could take him to Red Mesa, Arizona. The woman again refused and said she could only take him to Aztec.
As the woman drove toward New Mexico, Charley became increasingly aggressive and kept demanding she take him to Red Mesa, according to the plea agreement.
Near the top of Farmington Hill, on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, the woman pulled over and told Charley to get out.
“Charley then struck (the woman) in the head multiple times,” the plea agreement says.
Prosecutors said the beating caused the woman to blackout, something that Charley disputes. In either case, Charley caused serious bodily injury to the woman for the purpose of taking her vehicle, according to the plea agreement.
During the assault, the Dodge rolled down an embankment. The woman then reported feeling contact on her head and seeing Charley in possession of a rock.
Charley used the rock to beat the woman, prosecutors alleged, but Charley disputes that claim. As the assault continued, the woman tried to shield herself from the blows. She was eventually able to grab the rock and hit Charley with it, according to the plea agreement.
The woman was eventually able to free herself from the vehicle. She scrambled to the top of the embankment and was able to flag down a passing car, whose driver called police.
Meanwhile, Charley fled the scene down the embankment.
The woman suffered a concussion and other injuries to her neck and head, resulting in serious bodily injury.
In the weeks after the attempted carjacking, the woman continued to receive medical attention for dizziness, headache, pressure behind the eyes, nausea, back pain, blurry vision, difficulty verbalizing thoughts, diminished memory and scars to the face, according to prosecutors.
The FBI office in Durango conducted the investigation in collaboration with the Southern Ute Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Graves handled the prosecution of the case.
“This random, unprovoked attack on an innocent citizen justifies this lengthy sentence,” said acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Kirsch in the news release. “We remain committed to vigorously prosecuting violent crime on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.”
tbrown@durangoherald.com
