By Joe Johnson
A 31-year-old Oglethorpe County man was arrested last week for allegedly pointing a gun at a man with whom his wife was having an affair, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.
During the incident, Lexington resident William Cory Jones also allegedly chased the other man’s car with his own, which he used to cut off the victim and cause a collision, according to the report.
The incident reportedly occurred just prior to 3:30 p.m. on April 6, when Jones tracked his wife’s phone to the parking lot of a shopping center, where he found her in the car of another man.
After Jones allegedly ran up to the other vehicle and punched its window, the man said he feared for his safety so he drove out of the lot onto Barnett Shoals Road where he ran two red lights to get away from Jones, but after pulling into The Kroger parking lot, Jones followed him there and cut him off, causing the two vehicles to collide, according to the police report. When Jones got out of his car and pointed a pistol at the other man and yelled for his wife to get out of the vehicle, the other man put his car into reverse, driving onto College Station Road and then Barnett Shoals Road, where he saw three police cars parked and told officers what happened, according to the report.
After the woman made phone contact with her husband, Jones drove to the parking lot where the officers and victim were to give his side of the story.
Jones admitted to following the other man’s car into the Kroger parking lot and said he did not realize he had collided with the other man’s car until his wife called him and he got out of his vehicle and saw the damage. He also told police that when exiting his car at Kroger, he had a cellphone he was holding sideways.
An independent witness reportedly told police she saw Jones run up to the victim’s car holding something black, and the victim described the weapon Jones pointed at him as a black semiautomatic pistol.
Jones denied having a gun, and a search of his car did not locate one, according to the report. He said he pawned a black pistol to a friend months ago and that he had a concealed weapons permit.
Jones was cited for two traffic violation, including reckless driving and later released on bond.
However, upon further investigation police obtained a warrant charging Jones with aggravated assault and he was booked into jail on that charge early Wednesday morning. He was subsequently released upon posting a $1,000 good security bond.