Arizona lawmaker stopped by police after fight with girlfriend

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By David Schwartz

PHOENIX | Sat Feb 26, 2011 9:24pm EST

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Scott Bundgaard, the Arizona state senate majority leader, was involved in a domestic violence dispute with his girlfriend, but was not arrested because he has legislative immunity, police said on Saturday.

Republican Bundgaard's girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, 34, was booked for domestic violence assault, police said.

Phoenix police responded to a report on Friday night that Bundgaard was pulling Ballard out of a car stopped next to the median on State Route 51.

When officers arrived, they encountered Bundgaard and Ballard, and saw both had marks on their bodies showing they had been in a physical altercation, said Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson.

Bundgaard and Ballard were both detained, but Bundgaard told officers that under Arizona law he is immune from arrest while the legislature is in session, police said.

Police found Bundgaard could correctly claim immunity, but the case was submitted to prosecutors for review.

Bundgaard released a statement on Saturday saying he was innocent of wrongdoing. He said the physical altercation began when he had stopped the car, and his girlfriend moved into the driver's seat and refused to get out.

"I had no choice but to pull her from the driver's seat, which resulted in marks on her knees," Bundgaard said.

"I had also had no choice but to stop her from punching me and risking highway safety, all of which resulted in a black eye for me and a busted lip," he said.

He added, "I waive any and all 'legislative immunity.' If I did something wrong, charge me. I did not."

Bundgaard is the co-sponsor of controversial Arizona state legislation seeking to challenge the right to U.S. citizenship for children born in the state whose parents are illegal immigrants or other non-citizens.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Peter Bohan)
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Comments (3)
wolfboi1970 wrote:
I KNEW it was gonna be a republican…it ALWAYS IS if its violence , or sex with children….and of course THEFT

Feb 27, 2011 5:38am EST  --  Report as abuse
spolly123 wrote:
What scares me is that this state congressman is immune from arrest when the legislature is in session. Our representatives need to be held accountable not only to their constituents but to the same laws of the land as everybody else, regardless of whether they’re “on the clock” or not. With the amount of corruption in politics, congress should be first on the list of who can get arrested in this country.

Feb 27, 2011 6:33pm EST  --  Report as abuse
Ray2447 wrote:
Domestic violence will never end as long as the whole truth about it is misrepresented to comply with feminist ideology. V.P. Biden recently called violence against women, “the very worst abuse.” The very worst abuse is valuing one life less than another for having been born the wrong gender. Under domestic violence law, the wrong gender is almost always men. Shelter and services are virtually non-existent for male victims of domestic violence. Options out of a bad relationship, that women have, are often not available to men. Men wind up gender profiled by the taxpayer funded, domestic violence industry, because of gender feminist ideology controlling the d.v. industry. Men are often battered by domestic violence, and then battered again by the taxpayer funded, domestic violence industry as shown in “Los Misandry” at Youtube.

Feb 28, 2011 4:14pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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