Game of pool leads to battery charge against Pecos man
A Pecos man was recently arrested at his place of employment and booked into the San Miguel County Detention center on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated battery.
A man with a broken nose called New Mexico State Police to a house in La Cienega on June 26. His face was swollen and he had five stitches on his nose. He told police his injuries were the result of being punched in the face the previous evening.
Police later arrested Daniel James Roybal, 35, of Pecos and charged him with aggravated battery, after the man with the broken nose identified Roybal by name.
The man told police the altercation had taken place at his father-in-law’s home in San Jose the night before, where he and Roybal were playing pool on the back porch.
“I went inside to grab a Coke,” the man said in an arrest affidavit. “I was going back outside, I hit the switch to turn off the lights and made the mistake of turning off the light switch of the back porch.”
He said Roybal rushed inside, angry that he’d turned off the lights. During the quarrel, Roybal punched him in the face two times.
Police visited Roybal at a Pecos Forest Service office where he is employed. According to the affidavit, Roybal admitted to striking the man in the face, but said he only hit him once. He also said he was not aware the man had a broken nose, or that he’d been taken to a hospital.
Roybal told the officer the two men had been playing pool. He said when the other man went inside to get something to drink, he repeatedly flipped the porch light on and off. Roybal admitted to police that he went inside and confronted the other man in the kitchen, telling him to stop flipping the light switch. He also admitted to becoming angry and striking the man in the face.
He was later released on an unsecured bond and is due in San Miguel Magistrate Court Aug. 21.
