A Lake Charles man who punched and injured a police dog as authorities sought to arrest him on stalking charges was sentenced
to three years in prison Friday.
A six-person jury found the man, 47-year-old Gerald Brent Debarge, guilty last week of injuring a police animal, and Judge
Mike Canaday found him guilty of resisting an officer.
Canaday on Friday suspended one year of the three-year sentence. But he ordered the man to serve a concurrent six-month term
for resisting an officer, five years’ supervised probation and a $5,000 fine. Debarge must pay the veterinarian bill for
the police dog he injured.
He also was charged with stalking and violating a protective order but elected to have the charges separated. Debarge represented himself
but will be represented by the Public Defender’s Office in the future, said Jay Dixon, head of the PDO.
The District Attorney’s Office said it won’t prosecute Debarge on the stalking charge, but the violation of a protective order
charge will be heard before Canaday in March.