Safford man jailed in Greenlee County for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon

Contributed Photo/Courtesy Greenlee County Sheriff's Office: Timothy Cervantez was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly pointing a handgun at two men during a dispute over the repair of his Jeep.

Girlfriend jailed for possession of drug paraphernalia and false reporting

By Jon Johnson

jon@gilavalleycentral.net

CLIFTON – A trip up to Clifton to check on the progress of a vehicle in repair didn’t go so well for a Safford couple as they both ended up in the Greenlee County Jail.

Timothy Cervantez, 56, was booked into the jail and eventually charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a charge of misconduct involving weapons since he is a prohibited possessor.

Cervantez’s girlfriend, Brenda Tuey, 37, was booked into the Greenlee County Jail on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and false reporting to law enforcement.

The charges stem from an altercation the morning of June 5, when Cervantez and Tuey traveled to a residence in the 700 block of Calle Del Rio in Clifton to retrieve his Jeep because the victim had not finished repairs in a timely manner. 

Cervantez said he pulled up in a Ford Bronco with a trailer to load up the Jeep and got in an argument with the victim and his father (who would be listed as the secondary victim). He said they just argued and then the authorities arrived.

According to the victim, however, while the two men were conversing, Cervantez pulled out a handgun and demanded to take the Jeep even though it wasn’t finished. The victim said he told Cervantez to leave and he went inside and called the police. The victim then came back outside and Cervantez allegedly pointed the revolver at him. The victim’s father stepped in between the two and Cervantez allegedly pointed the handgun at him as well. Both victims described the handgun as being a revolver.

The victims said eventually Cervantez gave the gun to Tuey and removed the Bronco from the property to the adjacent lot.

Cervantez and Tuey both denied having a gun and allowed a search of the vehicle, which yielded a metal marijuana pipe but no weapon. Tuey allegedly went so far to say she has a disorder that makes her not like guns and cannot be around them. She added that she had never seen Cervantez with a gun the entire time they have been together. Cervantez is a prohibited possessor of any firearm because he hasn’t had that right restored to him since he was found guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault in June 1987 in Yavapai County Superior Court. 

Shortly after the vehicle search failed to locate a weapon, a Clifton officer who was assisting on the call discovered a loaded revolver in some weeds roughly four to five feet from the Bronco. Cervantez then allegedly admitted bringing the gun in case he had a problem. He said he handed it to Tuey after the altercation but stopped short of saying if she was the one who hid it in the weeds, according to Clifton and Greenlee County police reports. Tuey continued to deny touching or even seeing the gun, however, she did allegedly admit to possession of the pipe.

Cervantez and Tuey were then booked into the jail without further incident. Nuttall’s Towing arrived and removed the Bronco and trailer back to their storage yard in Safford.   

    

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