McGees indicted for furniture store brawl

Prominent local businessmen Gordon McGee Sr. and his son, Gordon McGee Jr., have been indicted for a brawl inside a local furniture store which ended with the senior McGee pulling a handgun on the store owners.

Local developer and Pioneer Building Supply founder Gordon McGee Sr. was indicted on two counts of aggravated assault and charges of possession of narcotics, the latter coming for prescription pills he was reportedly carrying on his person without the bottle.

Gordon McGee Jr., also of Pioneer Building Supply and the newest member of the Warren County School Board, was indicted on the lesser charge of assault for his part in the fist fight which led to the gun being pulled by his father.

The indictments come after the two were bound to the grand jury following a preliminary hearing late last year. In the hearing, victims Steve Ray and Patti Davis, co-owners of Furniture Depot, testified to the events.

Davis testified the incident began when the junior McGee parked his vehicle in front of the furniture store and went next door for a haircut. Davis said his truck was blocking them from unloading merchandise since it was directly in front of the front door. She asked him to move the vehicle as he was about to leave the area with his wife, in her car.

When McGee Jr. refused to move his vehicle, Davis said she told him she would have his truck towed. A short time later McGee Jr. reportedly told them he would sue the couple if they towed his truck from the public lot, at which time Ray reportedly told his business partner to ?call the tow truck.? At that point Davis said McGee Jr. made a call on his cellphone from the parking lot and both McGees soon entered Furniture Depot.

There is still debate as to who threw the first punch with Davis and Ray saying it was Gordon Sr. who bumped and slugged Ray. Gordon Sr. says it was Ray who bumped him and ?got in his face? unleashing the two-on-one brawl inside the store. Regardless of who started the fight, Gordon Sr. maintains he got the worst of it despite the number advantage, suffering numerous cuts to his face, injuries that prompted him and his son to later seek medical treatment.

McMinnville patrolman Chris Hutchins confirmed during the hearing that McGee Sr. later told him he pulled the KelTech 380 handgun because he has a pacemaker and was afraid that a blow to the chest might kill him. Hutchins said McGee Sr. had a carry permit for the gun. Hutchins was the officer who responded to the call and ordered McGee to lower his weapon. He is the prosecutor in one of the aggravated assault cases and noted the gun was loaded and ready to fire.

The McGees, who did not testify during their preliminary hearing last year, are expected to remain free on their present bond arrangements pending arraignment later this month and their eventual trial.