Witnesses say father urged 17-year-old son to shoot a neighbor
A Hobbs man was arrested Tuesday, charged with multiple felony counts stemming from an incident in June.
Kristopher Glasspoole, 44, of the 600-block of west Cope Place in Hobbs, was taken into custody on warrants stemming from a criminal complaint charging him with being an accessory to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a fourth-degree felony.
The charges stem from a June 11 altercation where Kristopher Glasspoole and his son, who was 17 at the time of the incident, allegedly assaulted a neighbor after they reportedly shined flashlights at each other across a fence, according to a Lea County Sheriff’s Office report.
Deputies reported the victim had a fresh laceration on the left cheek and red markings around his neck. The victim told deputies the incident began when the victim and Glasspoole started shining flashlights at each other across a fence that separates their properties.
Glasspoole told officers he was outside his residence with his family, enjoying the evening, when the victim started shining the flashlight in their direction, according to the report. Glasspoole said he got his own flashlight and retaliated, with the incident escalating to the point the victim allegedly threw something at the son, reportedly striking him in the face. Glasspoole reportedly jumped over the fence and began fighting with the victim.
At some point after the Glasspoole’s returned to their side of the fence, they reportedly got in their truck and drove to the victim’s residence in the 600 block of West Burgess Street, parking in the driveway, and the fight reportedly resumed. At some point, the victim observed the son exit the vehicle with what was identified in the report as an AR-15-style rifle. Glasspoole reportedly grabbed and restrained the victim from behind while the son pointed the weapon at the victim’s face, according to the report.
Glasspoole then allegedly “began ordering (the son) to shoot” (the victim), at which time the son began striking the victim in the face with the muzzle of the weapon, according to the report. According to witness statements, he then pointed the rifle in the air and discharged one round before putting the muzzle against the victim’s head with sufficient pressure to cause bleeding, the report states.
Investigators collected a spent casing and an unfired round in the driveway, reportedly in the area the victim told deputies Glasspoole was holding him while his son pointed the rifle.
Glasspoole was being held at the Lea County Detention Center in Lovington without bond as of Wednesday morning pending his first appearance on the charges.
