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Scott Bundgaard charged with misdemeanor assault

Scott Bundgaard charged with misdemeanor assault

Sen. Scott Bundgaard has been charged with misdemeanor assault and endangerment stemming from the now-infamous Feb. 25 freeway fracas with his former girlfriend, Aubrey Ballard.

The charges, dated June 3, were served on the Peoria Republican this afternoon, according to a spokesman for Bundgaard.

Bundgaard could not immediately be reached for comment. Ballard put out this statement:

"The night of February 25 remains painful for me. Not only the assault I suffered at the hands of a man I once loved, but Scott's insistence on blaming others and his failure to take responsibility for his illegal, abusive behavior. Fortunately, the justice system has decided to hold Scott accountable. I support that decision wholeheartedly."

A friend of Bundgaard's, who asked not to be identified, called it "beyond absurd" that he was charged while Ballard got a pass. He believes city prosecutors felt pressure to bring charges against Bundgaard given the media frenzy. He pointed to the cuts and bruises to Bundgaard's face that night. Ballard has acknowledged that she hit him but says it was because he hit her first.

Ironically, the charges come as the Legislature is back in session to consider extending unemployment benefits. You will recall that Phoenix police say Bundgaard was not arrested on the night of the fight because he contended he was immune from arrest given that the Legislature was in session.

Bundgaard has steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying he was defending himself when Ballard began attacking him and trying to exit the car as he drove north on State Route 51. Ballard has steadfastly maintained that Bundgaard hit her first.

There's no way to independently verify what went on inside the car but five witnesses told police that Bundgaard was the aggressor once the fight moved to the freeway median.

Stay tuned for details on what must be the longest running misdemeanor investigation in Arizona history.

Scott Bundgaard faces domestic violence charges

Bundgaard faces domestic violence charges, due in court on June 28

What is perhaps the longest running domestic violence investigation in Arizona history came to a close on Friday, as Sen. Scott Bundgaard was charged with misdemeanor assault and endangerment.

The charges come 105 days after that now-infamous freeway fracas between the then-Senate majority leader and his girlfriend, Aubrey Ballard.

While both walked away from their Feb. 25 date with scrapes and bruises -- and a night behind bars for Ballard -- only Bundgaard will face criminal charges. He's due in court on June 28.

Ballard, through a spokesman, said she plans to fully cooperate in her ex-boyfriend's prosecution.

“Fortunately, the justice system has decided to hold Scott accountable,” she said. “I support that decision wholeheartedly."

Bundgaard isn't talking – not to me at least – but a friend called the charges “beyond absurd” and suggested that the media frenzy forced Phoenix prosecutors to go after the senator.

City Prosecutor Aarón Carreón-Aínsa, a 32-year prosecutor, said politics never entered into the investigation.

Carreón-Aínsa wouldn't explain why Bundgaard's injuries -- a black eye, several cuts and a swollen lip -- didn't warrant charges against Ballard.

“We make a decision just on the evidence, what can we prove,” he said.

The couple was headed north on State Route 51 just past Shea Boulevard late on the evening of Feb. 25 when hostilities broke out.

Bundgaard has said that Ballard attacked him in a drunken fit of jealousy and that he was only trying to keep her safe. Ballard has acknowledged hitting Bundgaard in the face but says she did so only after he began screaming at her and hit her across the chest.

There's no way to know what really happened inside Bundgaard's car that night. Outside the car is another story.

Despite Bundgaard's insistence that he was the victim, five independent witnesses reported that he was the aggressor. Three said he pulled Ballard from the car and that she landed on the ground. One said he threw her to the ground. The fifth reported him walking toward her, yelling and waving his hands, as she backed away.

Because Bundgaard invoked legislative immunity, he was allowed to go home that night while Ballard spent a night in jail.

Four months later, it soon could be Bundgaard's turn.

The charges – class one and class two misdemeanors, both designated as domestic violence offenses – could bring nearly a year in jail and up to a $6,000 fine.

Generally, though, first-time domestic violence offenders are given the chance to go to diversion programs.

One wonders whether it ever would have come to this but for Bundgaard's mouth. The senator managed to turn what would likely have been a two- or three-day story into a spring serial as he tried to hang onto his majority leader spot. While he initially insisted that there was no domestic violence, by Day Six he had his girlfriend drunk, out of control and pulling out a gun. And oh yeah, he never invoked immunity – despite what three police officers from two agencies reported.

Look for this thing to get ugly – or, I should say, uglier as Bundgaard fights for his political life and reputation.

Ballard has told police that she heard from other women after the fight, including Bundgaard's ex –wife – the one who fled in the middle of their 2006 Hawaiian honeymoon, after having asked for a police escort to retrieve her belongings from their room.

“I'm having victims coming forward calling me,” Ballard told detectives the week after the incident. “His ex-wife had called me. And they all are saying they will go to battle, I mean, court.”

No, I think battle was the right word for what is to come.

Bundgaard charged with two misdemeanors

Bundgaard charged with two misdemeanors

by Mary K. Reinhart - Jun. 10, 2011 07:13 PM

The Arizona Republic

Sen. Scott Bundgaard faces misdemeanor assault and reckless endangerment charges in a Feb. 25 freeway altercation with his former girlfriend that cost him his leadership position and briefly sidetracked the legislative session.

The former Senate majority leader was served with a complaint and summons Friday afternoon at the office of his attorney, Mark Goldman.

The endangerment charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The maximum penalty for the domestic-violence assault charge is $1,400 and four months in jail.

Phoenix police recommended that Bundgaard be charged with assault when they submitted the case to city prosecutors March 24.

In the police report, four eyewitnesses backed up Aubry Ballard's version of the late-night scuffle along the median of Arizona 51. She said the senator pulled her out of his Mercedes and threw her to the ground.

Bundgaard, R-Peoria, maintains he became the victim after Ballard flew into a jealous rage. Ballard was arrested and spent the night in jail. Bundgaard invoked his legislative immunity from arrest and was released at the scene.

Charges against Ballard were dropped the next day, and city prosecutor Aaron Carreon-Ainsa said Friday his office has not recharged her.

Neither Bundgaard nor Goldman returned repeated calls seeking comment. But Goldman issued a statement.

"Charging Scott with two misdemeanors makes it obvious they have no case and are merely trying to justify whatever time they spent during this extraordinarily prolonged investigation," Goldman said. "He will be exonerated."

Lawmakers convened a special session Friday on unemployment benefits, but word of the charges came after adjournment. Though the state Constitution generally protects legislators from arrest during session, they do not have privilege from prosecution.

Bundgaard is due in city court June 28, but his attorney could enter a plea in advance of the hearing.

Scott Bundgaard Charged With Reckless Assault

Senator Scott Bundgaard Charged With Reckless Assault for Freeway Scuffle With Ex-Gal Pal

By James King, Fri., Jun. 10 2011 at 4:12 PM

​State Senator -- and former Senate majority leader -- Scott Bundgaard has been charged with a pair of misdemeanors for his February freeway scuffle with his ex-gal-pal "Iron" Aubry Ballard.

Bundgaard's been charged with one count each of reckless assault and endangerment for the freeway fracas that resulted in a night in the slammer for Ballard and a shiner for Bundgaard.

Bundgaard was not charged the night of the incident because, according to Phoenix police, he invoked legislative immunity -- a claim he disputes. Ballard, on the other hand, was taken into custody at the scene.

With each side telling a different story, the details of the brouhaha are unclear. Bundgaard claims Ballard attacked him in a jealous rage as the two were driving home from a charity event, during which Bundgaard competed in a dance competition with another woman.

He claims she started punching him and throwing his clothes out the window as the two were driving on State Route 51. When he stopped to retrieve the clothes, he tried to remove Ballard from the car, dragging her along the side of the highway, causing cuts and scrapes to her legs.

Bundgaard also claims Ballard pulled a gun on him, a claim Ballard says -- and most observers believe -- is BS.

The unbelievable yarn about the gun, Senate sources told New Times at the time, was the breaking point for many Senate Republicans, who booted Bundgaard from his leadership position shortly after the incident.

Attempts to reach Bundgaard, and his attorney Mark Goldman, this afternoon were unsuccessful. However, Ballard issued the following statement about the charges against Bundgaard:

The night of February 25 remains painful for me. Not only the assault I suffered at the hands of a man I once loved, but Scott's insistence on blaming others and his failure to take responsibility for his illegal, abusive behavior.

Fortunately, the justice system has decided to hold Scott accountable. I support that decision wholeheartedly.

My thanks go out to the Phoenix Police Department, the city prosecutor's office, and the five independent witnesses who spoke out, corroborating the facts of that night. I look forward to putting this awful incident into the past.

Bundgaard didn't beat his wife (but...)

Bundgaard didn't beat his wife (but...)

A state senator didn't beat his wife.

I always wanted to write a lead like that but never thought I'd get the chance. Today, however, Scott Bundgaard affords me that opportunity.

In a newly released interview with Phoenix police, the woman who was oh-so-briefly Bundgaard's wife confirms his claim that he never hit her. He just “scared the daylights” out of her and she believes he would have become violent had she stayed in the marriage.

She left him on their three-week anniversary, while they were honeymooning in Hawaii.

Bundgaard declined to comment through an intermediary. He is due in Phoenix Municipal Court on Tuesday to answer misdemeanor charges of assault and endangerment, fallout from that February night when the then-Senate majority leader went from Dancing with the Stars to fighting under them on State Route 51.

From the start, the Peoria Republican has said that his now-ex girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, attacked him and never mind those five witnesses who pegged him as the aggressor once the fight reached the freeway median.

In what was perhaps the longest misdemeanor investigation ever, city prosecutors finally brought domestic violence charges against Bundgaard on June 3, but not before sending the case back to police for additional investigation. Chief among the things prosecutors sought: an interview with Bundgaard's former wife, Anne Harwell.

The pair met on the Internet in October 2005 and for five months carried on a long-distance relationship, according to court records.

The following March, they were married at the Paradise Valley estate of Pierre Falcone, who a few years later would be sent to a French prison for masterminding the trafficking of Soviet-made weapons to Angola during a civil war in the 1990s. (Bundgaard has said he thought his friend was an oil and gas trader.)

Harwell told police that Bundgaard was expert at winning people over and was her best friend. Once they were married, however, she said he turned into a “monster”, becoming manipulative and irrational.

“It was like ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,',” police quoted her as saying. “She said he would go into a rage over nothing.”

The honeymoon to Kona, Hawaii, came two weeks after the wedding and Harwell said that Bundgaard was already playing mind games and trying to isolate her. She described one incident shortly before the honeymoon, when she had a migraine headache. She was sitting on the bed and told Bundgaard that she wasn't feeling well.

“He responded by telling her ‘Oh, you're a wuss' and took her and flipped her over onto her head,” the report says.

During their honeymoon, she said Bundgaard would lash out at her for no reason.

“Harwell would try to reason with Bundgaard telling him she knew he was angry, critical and controlling,” the report says. “She said Bundgaard would get up and say ‘Well guess what, you married an angry, critical, controlling husband and you're stuck.'”

Or not.

Three weeks into the marriage, Hawaiian police escorted Harwell to the couple's quarters to collect her things. She flew home to Georgia later that night.

There was a brief attempt reconcile but Harwell said Bundgaard settled into the same pattern. It took two years to get an annulment. She told police they had no further contact until March 6, when he sent her an e-mail.

“As you've heard I've returned to the Arizona State Senate,” he wrote. “With that, personal issues fall into the glaring spotlight for public review, which only presents challenges if one has something to hide. We have nothing to hide and I have nothing to hide now. That said, the status of our former relationship is on the border of being scrutinized mercilessly. It's not optimal for either of us, because it's clear that we've both moved beyond those challenges.”

Bundgaard went on to ask Harwell to tell a reporter that their marriage didn't end as a result of domestic violence.

Harwell never responded.

I'm not a crook - Nixon

I'm not a crook wife beater - Scott Bundgaard

Bundgaard pleads not guilty to domestic assault

Jun. 27, 2011 05:55 PM

Associated Press

A state lawmaker charged with misdemeanor assault and endangerment stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident has pleaded not guilty.

The plea from Sen. Scott Bundgaard was entered by the court on Monday after his lawyer filed a notice of appearance on his behalf. His arraignment set for Tuesday was waived and a pretrial hearing set for July 18.

City prosecutors filed misdemeanor assault and endangerment charges against the Peoria Republican on June 10 for a February incident on a Phoenix freeway.

The 43-year-old lawmaker and girlfriend Aubry Ballard reportedly argued while returning home from a charity dance fundraiser. Each had bruises and cuts.

He lost his post as majority leader after the incident. Bundgaard's lawyer has said he has maintained his innocence and will be exonerated.

Check out these other articles that document this incident between Senator Scott Bundgaard and his ex-girlfriend Aubrey Ballard.

And for your reading pleasure here are some more articles about the incident where Arizona Senator Scott Bundgaard is accused of beating up his girlfriend Aubrey Ballard.