NEWS
Trainer Lara faces felony charge of domestic battery
Posted: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 11:46 AM
Trainer Jorge Lara was arrested on Saturday night in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and charged with a felony count of second-degree domestic battery.
The charge is punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record.
Lara, the leading trainer at Louisiana Downs in 2007 and ’08, has three wins from 36 starters this year at Oaklawn Park. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear on March 23 in Hot Springs District Court,
According to the Garland County Sheriff’s Department, a 44-year-old woman alleged that Lara threw her to the floor and stomped on her face. He allegedly dragged her into the yard as he allegedly held her in a headlock and allegedly punched her, according to KLAZ.com.
A witness broke up the attack, took the woman to his home, and notified the police. Lara fled before the police arrived and was arrested later after a traffic stop.
Lara, 39, took over trainer Cole Norman’s stable in 2007 after Norman was involved in a Hot Springs automobile accident that killed a woman.
Norman, a six-time leading trainer at Oaklawn, was found to be under the influence of prescription drugs and he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of negligent homicide. He was released last year after serving a nine-month prison sentence.
Lara was Norman’s assistant for nine years.
