ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (KLFY) — A St. Martinville councilman is addressing his domestic violence arrest in New Orleans last week.
Mayor Pro-Tem Craig Prosper was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center for alleged domestic abuse battery following the Saints game.
Prosper tells News Ten’s Neale Zeringue he knows there is nothing he can do to quickly restore the trust many people lost in him this week, and he apologized publicly for the embarrassment the alleged incident and subsequent arrest casts on his wife, kids, colleagues, and community.
“On Thursday, November 2, I had my worst day on this planet.” Those were the opening of Mayor Pro-Tem Craig and District 2 Councilman Proper’s public apology in the St. Martinville City Council meeting Monday.
He said, “When the people you love look in your eyes and show real fear both for themselves and you, it provides clarity that rarely comes to us. You realize how all those seemingly small steps, that wrong direction, can compound to create a moment where you are no longer in control of.”
According to Prosper, that moment was shortly after the Saints game Thursday night. As he and his wife were leaving the dome, they lost each other in the crowd.
“We were just at a point where we were trying to find each other because we were separated, and we did get together, it was right where the cops were standing, and this lady started saying that we were arguing and fighting,” Prosper stated.
In court documents a New Orleans TV station obtained, the woman told police Craig Prosper’s wife had been pushed by Prosper, and that he had “grabbed her with both hands by the neck and squeezed.”
Craig Prosper’s wife called News 10’s Neale Zeringue to explain what happened next.
She said, “The night of the incident the police officer asked me this as ONE question ‘has he ever intimidated, threatened or assaults you’? I answered with Yes, we do have disagreements & argue sometimes as a couple. But Craig has never been physically abusive! He is not a violent person. In fact, he has never even raised a finger towards me.”
Prosper and his wife have been together for 13 years. She says she disputes the woman’s account and will not presses any charges.
“This is a woman that was walking out of the stadium who decided to do this. Who decided to participate in what she thought she saw and or knew,” Craig Prosper claimed.
He also said he voluntarily completed an eight-hour online course about domestic abuse course
to “better understand the effects of domestic abuse and how to prevent it from occurring.”
“I totally understand that does happen. It happens with relationships, it happens with kids, it happens with a lot of different things, and I think we need to be better about that, but at the end of the day, the getting thrown into jail and whatnot and having to go through what me and my family had to go through is I feel blown out of proportion extremely,” Prosper concluded.
You can listen to Prosper’s complete comments from the St. Martinville council meeting following the arrest below.
Prosper has served on the St. Martinville City council since 2006. He had already announced before this alleged incident, he will not be seeking reelection.
