Augusta County man headed to prison for 2023 gunfight in Deerfield
STAUNTON — A Churchville man who in 2023 opened fire on a vehicle with two people inside, grazing a man's face with a bullet, is headed to prison for nearly a decade after pleading guilty Thursday in Augusta County Circuit Court to numerous charges related to the shooting.
Oather "Carl" Puffenbarger Jr., 58, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding, breaking and entering while armed, and two gun charges.
On March 12, 2023, Puffenbarger's estranged wife was inside her Deerfield home when she spotted him in a sunroom armed with a gun, according to Augusta County Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Lorna Hilliard. The prosecutor said springs had been removed from a window that was later found wide open, and noted a curtain rod was broken.
The woman fled barefoot from the home and across a field to a relative's house, Hilliard said.
Puffenbarger then broke a window to a vehicle at his estranged wife's property, got a set of keys from a purse and took her 2011 Honda Pilot, Hilliard said.
Hilliard said two men, ages 31 and 23, who are related to the woman got in a pickup and tried to find Puffenbarger, who cut them off in the 3600 block of Hite Hollow Road. Hilliard said Puffenbarger ordered them out of the vehicle before firing a gunshot through the driver's side windshield of the pickup.
The bullet grazed the 31-year-old driver's face and ear, with a fragment of the bullet lodging in the man's hoodie. The rest of the bullet shattered the rear window of the pickup, cutting the man's face, Hilliard said.
The two men in the pickup returned gunfire and Puffenbarger fled the scene.
The following day during a traffic stop in Grant County, West Virginia, Puffenbarger shot himself in the head. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. In court Thursday, he wore a protective helmet.
"He still has damage to his skull," Hilliard said.
The prosecutor said that Puffenbarger has acted out before when faced with the prospect of a crumbling relationship. Court records show he was charged in 2019 in an unrelated incident involving an ex-wife. The couple was separated at the time. Puffenbarger was accused of pulling a gun and cocking it near a child's ear, and reportedly threatened to kill himself because of a pending divorce.
The woman and the child fled their home before a gunshot rang out in the 2019 incident, court records show. The woman went back inside the residence, where she thought Puffenbarger had killed himself after finding him in a hunched position on a chair. However, he'd shot a window in the back of the home. Puffenbarger was convicted on charges of reckless handling of a firearm and obstruction of justice, court records show. The couple divorced the following year.
In Augusta County Circuit Court on Thursday, in a plea agreement, Puffenbarger, who was represented by William Little II, was sentenced to 29 years in prison with 20 years suspended, giving him nine years to serve. He was also placed on three years of supervised probation once he's released from the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta County man headed to prison for 2023 gunfight in Deerfield
