Pair Held in Calif. Dragging Death

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YUBA CITY, Calif. (AP) — After he was beaten, kicked and robbed, a black man was killed when he was run over by a pickup truck and dragged face down underneath it. Police had two men in custody and were investigating whether race was a factor in the death.

Investigators said the man was attacked in an alley, then run over at least twice in a pickup early Saturday. He became caught under the truck and was "dragged for a considerable distance" before the men in the vehicle stopped and abandoned the truck, according to police reports.

Aaron Richard Ouelette, 21, and Michael Angelo Sanudo, 20, both of Yuba City, were each held Monday on $1 million bond on suspicion of murder, robbery, gang affiliation and parole violation.

Yuba City police described the victim as a black man in his 30s. They were still not identifying him Monday, until they could notify his family.

Sutter County District Attorney Carl Adams said Monday he was waiting for investigators' reports before deciding what charges to file.

A witness who identified herself as T. Perico, 37, said she saw the truck stopped in the alley with the passenger looking to see if the victim was still underneath the truck. The truck then drove off again with the victim still trapped, as neighbors screamed to one another.

After the suspects fled, "we ran to see if there was anything we could do," Perico said. "One woman was trying to push the truck" to get it off the man's body.

Police said the man was dead when they arrived.

Yuba City is about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento.