By Pat Culverhouse

Moving a domestic dispute outside a residence within hearing distance of a Minden police officer has cost a Minden man time in the parish prison.

While on patrol in the East St. area just before midnight Tuesday, Officer Kendale Booker reportedly overheard a verbal disturbance. He reportedly found a couple in the yard of a residence in the 1100 block of East St. who admitted they had been involved in an altercation.

During questioning, the officer learned  that during an argument 38-year-old Oliver Dennis Baker, Jr. had shoved his live-in girlfriend to the bedroom floor, then struck her in the face when she got to her feet. The officer reportedly observed signs the female had been struck near her right eye.

At the time of the incident, three minor children ranging in ages from eight to 11 were inside the residence, the officer noted. An older juvenile also reportedly witnessed the female lying on the floor of her bedroom following the incident.

Baker has been booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on a charge of domestic abuse battery with child endangerment. Bond has not been set.

Bond amounts for domestic abuse battery with child endangerment in Louisiana are not fixed, but determined by a judge based on the case’s severity.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.