Ex-Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst suffers broken ribs after girlfriend kicks him repeatedly in vicious assault
Former Texas lieutenant governor David Dewhurst's 40-year-old girlfriend has been accused of breaking his ribs while beating him black and blue. Leslie Ann Caron was charged with causing injury to an elderly person, which constitutes a third-degree felony in the Lone Star State. She allegedly kicked 74-year-old Dewhurst during a vicious row, prosecutors said on Wednesday, May 20. She is also accused of hitting him with a pot during another row days later, and she also allegedly scratched and bit him.
Dewhurst called police on Tuesday, May 19, when X-rays confirmed the injuries he received, Mary McFaden, the division chief of family criminal law at Harris County District Attorney’s Office said, according to Associated Press. Caron was booked on $10,000 bond and is being held in Harris County jail but it was not clear if an attorney represented her. She was also issued a no-contact order. Houston-based TV network KTRK on May 20 approached the Republican former lieutenant-governor and he said he was doing okay. The same day, Dewhurst said in a statement: "I’m not interested in filing any charges against Leslie. She's a remarkable woman with many fine attributes. I wish her all the best in life." The couple is believed to have dated for around a year.
Caron also accused Dewhurst of hitting her
Caron is accused of kicking the veteran during an argument on May 13 over him not giving a call to a business partner. She allegedly scratched and bit him during another row a few days later. McFaden said the charges of hitting might have been a misdemeanor had Dewhurst been aged under 65. But his age saw the charges being constructed into a felony, AP added. Court documents received by Houston-based CW39 said Caron is now charged with "injury to an elderly individual". Caron also alleged that Dewhurst had previously hit her but the claims could not be substantiated by the police, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said. The matter was set for a court hearing on Thursday, May 21.
Son of a World War II pilot and known to be a prominent figure in Texas politics, Dewhurst was a strong ally of Rick Perry, the state’s former governor (2000-15) and former energy secretary who resigned last year. The duo claimed to have pushed a business-friendly agenda in the legislature which helped Texas' economy. They also believed to have laid the foundation on which Perry tried to erect his White House campaign in 2016, which eventually ended unsuccessfully. Dewhurst lost his bid for a fourth term in 2014. In 2012, he also ran for the Senate but lost the primary run-off to Ted Cruz, the incumbent.
Dewhurst had earlier served as an intelligence officer in the US Air Force and then an official in the Central Intelligence Agency as well as the state department. During his stint in the CIA, he was sent to Bolivia shortly before the coup against leftist president Juan Jose Torres in the early 1970s.