A Gallup man is facing multiple assault charges after he brandished a gun during an argument with his fiancé.

On Feb. 15, around 3 am, Gallup Police Officer Charlie Watkins was dispatched to 1200 E. Aztec Ave. after a woman called saying a man, who was later identified as Buddy Jeffries, was fighting with her son. The woman said Jeffries, 57, had a firearm.

When Watkins arrived at the scene, he met with the woman who had called Metro Dispatch. She led him to the room where the two men were fighting. Watkins found the younger man standing in the room’s doorway and Jeffries on the floor.

The two men handed the firearm over to the police officers, and then Watkins spoke to the victim, who explained that he was woken up by his mother and Jefferies fighting. He allegedly separated the two of them, and afterward Jeffries came to his bedroom and asked, “Are you gone yet?” while holding a .32 caliber pistol.

The victim said he and his mom were able to disarm Jeffries, and that’s when his mom called the police.

When Watkins asked Jeffries what happened, he said he and his fiancé had gotten into an argument in which he told her to leave and get out of his house.

Jeffries said he didn’t know when he brought the pistol out, but he said he usually carries it in his back pocket.

The woman who called Metro Dispatch, Jeffries’s fiancé, said he’d come home mad and that they got into an argument. During the argument the woman allegedly grabbed some cake they’d been eating and threw it at Jeffries.

The woman admitted that she tackled Jeffries when he pulled the gun out, fearful of what he would end up doing to himself or her and her son. She said Jeffries had never pulled out his pistol during an argument.

Jeffries was charged with aggravated assault against a household member (use of a deadly weapon), aggravated assault (use of a deadly weapon), and receiving stolen property (firearm). His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28.

Staff Reports