Mark Anthony Brown, 32, of Pevely has been charged with seven felonies for allegedly assaulting his wife and endangering their three children.
At approximately 10:35 a.m. July 16, Pevely Police responded to a call about a domestic disturbance at a house on Marble Springs Road and found Brown at the house and took him into custody.
Officers later located his wife, who had left the area with their children, Chief Mark Glenn reported.
Browns’ wife said shortly after she awoke that morning, she and her husband argued and then he attacked her, authorities reported.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, Brown “assaulted his wife by pulling her hair, choking her and forcibly throwing her to the ground, causing bruising and lacerations to her arms, legs and neck.”
The victim told officers she lost consciousness while being choked and when she awoke, she discovered her husband had retrieved a rifle from the bedroom closet, Glenn said in a written statement.
“Fearing for her safety and the safety of her three children, she immediately gathered the children and fled the residence and while outside, she heard a gunshot from inside the house,” Glenn added.
Officers seized a loaded semi-automatic rifle and a spent casing from inside the master bedroom, Glenn reported.
Brown allegedly “admitted to discharging a firearm into a residential structure,” the probable-cause statement said.
On July 18, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Brown with one count of first-degree assault, a class B felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison; three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, each one a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison; and three counts of armed criminal action, each one an unclassified felony that carries a minimum three-year sentence.
Brown was being held Tuesday, July 19, without bond in the Jefferson County Jail.