A Togiak man is in an Anchorage hospital recovering from injuries suffered earlier this week after his clothes were caught on the ball hitch of a pickup that drove off, dragging him for more than a mile.
The man, Rodney Gosuk, 38, was found by another driver without his jacket, shirts or pants on Togiak Heights Road, said Beth Ipsen, troopers spokeswoman.
Ipsen said the driver of the truck that snagged Gosuk initially found him drunk in the backseat of her four-door pickup. The driver asked someone for help getting him out of the truck.
Gosuk was standing behind the truck as the woman drove away, but he grabbed the back of the truck, Ipsen said. That's when his shirt got caught on the ball hitch.
Gosuk was scraped across the icy road with patches of gravel for 1.7 miles, Ipsen said.
Gosuk was flow to Alaska Native Medical Center and is still being treated for his abrasions and bruises, she said.
The temperature hovered around 15 degrees in Togiak on Monday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Troopers are investigating the incident.
Reach Benjamin Brasch at bbrasch@adn.com or 257-4349. Twitter: twitter.com/ben_brasch
By BENJAMIN S. BRASCH