Mississippi state Rep. Douglas McLeod accused of punching wife over sex: Report

Margaret Baker
Sun Herald

UPDATE Story:Can Mississippi lawmaker McLeod be removed from office if he punched wife in drunken rage?

State Rep. Douglas McLeod was arrested after he allegedly punched his wife when she failed to get undressed quickly enough when he wanted to have sex, according to an investigative report filed with the George County Sheriff’s Department.

The 58-year-old Republican lawmaker was intoxicated and holding a glass of alcohol in his hand when deputies responded to the McLeod home shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, the report obtained by the Sun Herald said.

Over the course of the investigation, deputies wrote in the report that the state lawmaker had punched his wife in the face, bloodying her nose. Deputies found blood on the couple’s bed and on the floor in the same room.

Douglas McLeod is shown in this arrest mugshot from the George County Sheriff's Office

When a deputies arrived, the report said, McLeod opened the door and they told him that they were there because a domestic assault had been reported. “Are you kidding me?” the lawmaker asked.

Then, the state representative walked inside his home, and another deputy came to the scene. The deputies could hear McLeod inside the home, yelling that “the cops are here,” the report said.

McLeod stumbled back to the front door and walked outside.

“Mr. McLeod had slurred speech and walked slow in a zigzag pattern,” according to a description by deputies, who said he was so inebriated he had to grab a hand rail to maintain his balance.

McLeod tried to explain to deputies that everything was OK, then said something else the deputies said they couldn’t understand because of his slurred speech.

When deputies went inside, they saw two women standing at the top of a stairwell, both of whom the deputies described as frightened. McLeod’s wife eventually came outside after deputies assured her they would keep her away from her husband.

The deputy said McLeod’s wife was shaking and upset.

McLeod’s wife said her husband was drunk and “just snapped,” as he often does when under the influence of alcohol, the report said.

Another woman who was there said McLeod’s wife came running up to her room, her face bloodied. The woman shut the door and locked it with McLeod’s wife inside.

The other woman said McLeod started banging on the door and telling the women to open it. He told the other woman if she didn’t open the door, he’d “kill her (expletive) dog.”

McLeod’s wife did not want go to the hospital by ambulance, but assured authorities she’d have her daughter take her to get checked so authorities would have a report of the injuries.

McLeod was taken into custody on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence and booked in the George County jail by early Sunday morning.

McLeod is out of jail on a $1,000 signature bond.

He did not respond to questions for comment.

Sheriff Keith Havard said the investigation is continuing.

McLeod, of Lucedale, has been a state representative since 2012. His district includes residents in George, Jackson, Stone and Forrest counties.

McLeod owns McLeod Tire Company in Lucedale and is married with three children.