Deputies respond to domestic dispute involving state Sen. Pirtle

SANTA FE, N.M. — Our news partners at The Santa Fe New Mexican report Republican state Sen. Cliff Pirtle of Roswell was involved in a domestic dispute Sunday.

Someone called 911 saying they heard people yelling outside a home just outside downtown Santa Fe.

Shortly after, they saw two women leave in an SUV. Deputies found that vehicle at a nearby gas station, and Sen. Pirtle’s wife was in the driver’s seat. She told deputies she suspected her husband of cheating and drove to his rental home in Santa Fe where she caught him in bed with another woman.

She told deputies she banged on the front door, had a verbal argument with her husband, Sen. Pirtle, “shoved him on the shoulder,” and left the house with her mother and kids.

Lapel video from The Santa Fe New Mexican shows the moments deputies spoke with the senator at the home.

Deputy: You doing alright?

Pirtle: Yeah, I’ll be fine.

Deputy: What happened if you don’t mind me asking?

Pirtle: Just an argument.

Deputy: OK, not physical or nothing like that?

Pirtle: No.

Deputy: What were you guys arguing about?

Pirtle: Personal problems.

Deputies said they couldn’t tell if the fight got physical, and deemed it a domestic disturbance. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Sen. Pirtle was “largely missing from today’s floor session” and told them in a brief interview it was a “personal matter.”

KOB 4 could not reach Sen. Pirtle for comment Monday night.