The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office has arrested a local man and booked him in connection with the brutal beating of his wife.
Chet Richard, 35, was booked with aggravated battery and attempted second-degree murder. No bond has been set for his release.
According to Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, deputies responded to a domestic violence complaint on Homer Richard Road in Opelousas back in May.
While they were on their way to that complaint, deputies got another call saying that Richard allegedly had hit his wife’s vehicle with his van, then beat her with a pipe.
A witness told deputies that Richard’s wife was driving down the road and noticed two vehicles stopped on the roadway. The witness saw Richard get out of his vehicle, break the glass out of his wife’s vehicle and begin to hit her with the pipe. The witness backed up her vehicle, and called 911.
Richard allegedly fled after he saw the witness, the sheriff said.
Deputies allegedly found the weapon used, which was a bloody pry bar, the sheriff said.
The victim told deputies Richard wanted to meet her at her home to pay her child support, but she refused and requested they meet in another location. Richard allegedly convinced her to meet on the road. She told deputies that Richard sideswiped her vehicle, then turned around and hit her head-on. He got out of his vehicle, and tried to get into hers, but couldn’t, she told deputies. Richard went back to his vehicle, and allegedly got the pipe, which he used to break her window. Then he began hitting her with the pipe, she told deputies.
The victim was treated at a local hospital; she lost several teeth and had multiple cuts and bruises, the sheriff said.
