CHURCH POINT, La. (WGNO) – A newly hired Louisiana police officer faces a battery and attempted second-degree murder charge stemming from a weekend argument with his wife.
KATC reports that Terrance Garrick Jr., 28, was arrested Saturday after he allegedly tried to set his wife on fire. Garrick’s wife did call the police, according to the arrest affidavit.
But this isn’t the first time he has been accused of domestic abuse.
In January, Garrick allegedly slapped his wife while she was holding a baby. Garrick denied hitting his wife, and the charges were later dropped.
Garrick was first hired by the Church Point Police Department in November 2015. During the two-month period that he faced a simple battery charge, he was not employed by the police department. However, he was hired back in May of this year after those charges were dropped by the St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s Office.
Garrick is jailed in the Acadia Parish Jail on a $120,000 bond. He is currently on leave without pay from Church Point Police Department.
Garrick’s future with the police department will be discussed at the city’s next council meeting on September 11.