LEA COUNTY, N.M. — A man is in jail after he threatened the Lea County Sheriff on September 29.
Deputies responded to West College Lane in Hobbs after receiving a call about an aggravated assault.
The victim, Sherrif Corey Helton, told deputies he had been driving when a man who was hunched down and walking in the brush stepped into the middle of the roadway and pointed a rifle at the sheriff.
Sheriff Helton said the man also pointed his gun at another vehicle on the road before setting the rifle down and running away.
The sheriff then secured the gun inside of his vehicle.
Deputies learned a rifle had been stolen from a car parked at a home on West College Lane. The victim in the theft said he saw a man point a rifle at the sheriff and recognized the gun as the one that had been stolen.
The suspect, who has not been identified by authorities, was later arrested and taken to the Lea County Detention Center. He has been charged with aggravated assault and burglary.
