Son with gun loses mom's love



A wife has forgiven her husband for a September incident during which he fired shots into a vehicle in which she, their daughter and his mother were sitting. So far, apparently, his mother has not.

Following his guilty pleas to the charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and child endangerment in Cannon County Circuit Court on Dec. 6, the wife of Bradley Pugh asked Judge Howard Wilson for permission to have contact with her husband.

Normally, persons convicted of assault are not allowed contact with their victim or victims while they are serving their sentence.

"He would never hurt me," Rebecca Pugh told Judge Wilson. "He just got out of control that day."

That day was Sept. 15, when officers with the Woodbury Police Dept. and Cannon County Sheriff's Dept. responded to an altercation Pugh was having with his wife and mother, Irene Pugh. Video footage showed Pugh pointing a gun and firing it three times into or near a vehicle with his wife, mother and daughter were sitting. He also made threats toward his mother, according to the incident report.

For the aggravated assault Pugh received a partially suspended sentence of 6 years to the Tennessee Department of Corrections and was placed on state supervised probation for 6 years. For reckless endangerment with a weapon he received a 2 year suspended sentence and equal probation time. For the charge of child endangerment, Pugh received a partially suspended sentence of 11 months, 29 days and was placed on probation for 9 months, 8 days.

The sentences will run concurrently. Pugh must also pay the court costs on all three counts.

While Pugh was granted contact with his wife, Assistant District Attorney Trevor Lynch told the court his mother does not want contact of any kind with her son. He will also not be allowed to see his daughter until the court grants permission.