TENNERTON – Police arrested a Lewis County man Saturday after he allegedly threatened to kill his partner because she refused to travel to Florida with him.
Forty-year-old Gary Lee Nelson of Weston was charged with domestic assault, third offense, a felony, following a fight with his girlfriend that occurred Friday, Oct. 5, according to a criminal complaint filed by Deputy Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department.
According to the complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s office, Nelson and the victim began arguing at an unnamed location along Stoney Run Road.
The argument stemmed from Nelson attempting to bring the victim with him to Florida “against her will.”
During the altercation, Nelson allegedly threatened to kill the victim and reached for a knife in his pocket, the complaint states.
At that point, the victim ran away and contacted law enforcement; she was subsequently granted an emergency domestic violence protective order in magistrate court, according to the file.
Gordon’s complaint states Nelson has been convicted of domestic battery in Lewis County twice before – once on April 5, 2007, and a second time on Oct. 1, 2018.
Magistrate Mike Coffman arraigned Nelson via video consent and set bail at $50,000 surety. He ordered Nelson to have no contact with the victim.
The penalty for being convicted of third-offense domestic assault is one to three years in prison and a fine ranging from $3,000 to $5,000.
