ROCK CAVE – A man was arrested on several charges after he allegedly dragged a woman across a yard and then fired a handgun at a vehicle being driven by another man who had tried to intervene in the domestic altercation.
Phillip Pulliam, 30, of Copen, W.Va. was arrested Thursday, May 16, for domestic battery, a misdemeanor; brandishing a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor; and wanton endangerment involving a firearm, a felony.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Deputy Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, Gordon and Cpl. Theron Caynor responded to a 911 call at a residence on New Hope Road.
When the officers arrived on scene, Gordon spoke with the victim of the domestic altercation, who said she was dragged across the yard by Pulliam. The report says two independent witnesses observed Pulliam dragging the victim by the sweatshirt.
Gordon said Brian Chidester saw the altercation and tried to intervene by telling Pulliam “to cut it out.”
Pulliam allegedly fired a Rock Island .45-caliber handgun at Chidester’s vehicle, the report states.
Another adult, Nicky Bailey, and a three-year-old child were inside the vehicle, according to the report. The vehicle was struck by one round of discharged ammunition.
“The … events occurred after Chidester intervened in a domestic violence situation between the defendant and his wife,” Gordon wrote in the report.
The file says several nearby residents heard the gunshot, and Gordon was able to locate one spent round and one unspent round of .45-caliber ammunition.
Pulliam’s bail was set at $175,000.
If convicted, Pulliam faces confinement of not more than 12 months or a fine of not more than $500 for the domestic battery charge. Pulliam faces confinement of not less than 90 days and not more than a year, a fine of not less than $50 and not more than $1,000, or both on the brandishing a deadly weapon charge.
If convicted of wanton endangerment involving a firearm, Pulliam faces confinement of not less than one year and not more than five years, or, in the discretion of the court, not more than one year in the county jail, a fine ranging between $250 and $2,500 or both.