A man allegedly threatened to stab a Pizza Hut employee because he thought the man had pulled a gun on him.
On June 7, around 6:15 pm, Gallup Police Officer Jarad Albert was dispatched to Duke City, 5012 E. Hwy. 66, after a man named Junior Cornfield reportedly assaulted another man with a knife.
According to Albert’s report, the victim called Metro Dispatch and said Cornfield, 38, was wearing a camouflage jacket with gray pants when he pulled a knife on him and tried to stab him. The victim said he last saw the man walking toward Albertsons on Aztec Avenue.
Cornfield was found by police around 6:45 pm with a knife matching the victim’s description in his pants pocket.
When Albert spoke to the victim, he explained that he was a Pizza Hut employee, and he’d been hanging out outside of the restaurant with a fellow employee when some people walked up to them.
The victim reportedly began talking to one of the people who approached him, and as they were talking, Cornfield came up from behind him. The victim said Cornfield reportedly thought he was “talking s***” to his friend.
Cornfield reportedly pulled the knife out of his pocket and began walking toward the victim, and began threatening him, telling him he would stab him. The victim said he believed Cornfield was going to stab him, so he went back inside the restaurant and called the police.
When Albert spoke to Cornfield, he said that he thought the Pizza Hut employees had said, “F*** you punk. Think you’re all bad?” He also said he thought the man had a gun, and that’s why he pulled the knife out.
After Albert told Cornfield that he’d watched the surveillance video and hadn’t seen the victim pull out a gun, Cornfield continued saying that the Pizza Hut employee pointed a gun in his face, and that’s why he threatened him with a knife.
Albert arrested Cornfield for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Metro Dispatch also told him that Cornfield had an outstanding warrant for assault out of the U.S. Marshals.
Cornfield’s preliminary examination for the assault charge is scheduled for June 21.
Staff Reports
