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Many equivalents in English are possible, it just depends on how creative one wants to be. But yes, it refers to someone who looks bad, ugly, disreputable, etc.
All the witness says is: "Llegó in fulano, iba él con un sujeto mal encachado." To me that's "un sujeto con cara de pocas pulgas"
but I couldn't find just the right expression in English. "He had a face of few bedbugs" just didn't cut it. (smile.) Rafaela
It is an expression that is familiar to Rafaela and to me because it belongs to our local dialect of Spanish; usually I'm the one insisting on more CONTEXT, but here it is not necessary. (We live in the same city.)
Explanation: un sujeto mal encachado = a shady looking character
Henry Hinds Local time: 01:04 Native speaker of: English, Spanish PRO pts in category: 36
Grading comment
I thought it the most appropriate, thank you, Henry...
Notes to answerer
Asker: Gracias, Henry...
3 hrs confidence:
dodgy-looking
Explanation: Or "iffy", like HH's "shady", it depends on the level of informality and the target audience/purpose/context.
A UK English version might be "... had a dodgy-looking geezer in tow..." or similar.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2011-08-01 15:03:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
For example The Times (NY or London) or the National Enquirer (or The Sun in UK) wouldn't use the same vocabulary or style.
neilmac Spain Local time: 09:04 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for taking the time to add to my options. Rafaela
20 hrs confidence:
disreputable looking
Explanation: Another option. Examples: (with a sense of humor):I was seated at my window one morning when a very disreputable-looking person slouched into the room. He was arrayed in a seedy suit, which hung upon his lean frame in bunches with no style worth mentioning. A sheaf of scraggy black hair leaked out of a battered old slouch hat, like stuffing from an ancient Colonial sofa, and an evil-smelling cigar butt, very much frazzled, protruded from the corner of his mouth. He had a very sinister appearance. He was a man I had known around the Nevada mining camps several years before, and his name was Samuel L. Clemens.; www.cliffsnotes.com/.../Ghosts-Summary-and-Analysis-Act... - En cachéThe rain makes the old man even more disreputable looking than usual, and Regina makes it clear she is ashamed of his coarseness and vulgar appearance. ...; books.google.es/books?isbn=1902930010...
Mairi Robinson, Scottish National Dictionary Association - 1999 - Foreign Language Study - 819 páginas
2 of clothes shabby, worn Ial8-19. na scruffy, disreputable-looking person, a rascal 18-el9.
Jenni Lukac Local time: 09:04 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 32
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for your examples and your suggestion. Rafaela
The translation workplace 
