Embroiled in controversy amid allegations he failed to render aid to a woman who later died, allegedly at the hand of her live-in boyfriend, Lafayette Police Department Maj. Glen Dartez called it quits several months before what he says was his planned January retirement.
Embroiled in controversy amid allegations he failed to render aid to a woman who later died, allegedly at the hand of her live-in boyfriend, Lafayette Police Department Maj. Glen Dartez called it quits several months before what he says was his planned January retirement.
Dartez's intention to retire early, effective Sunday, Sept. 12, was first reported in The Independent Weekly's Sept. 1 cover story, "Internal Affair?" His retirement after 34 years comes on the heels of a potential material witness corroborating defendant William Phillips Jr.'s claim that the veteran officer, a former medic, failed to help out on the night of June 11 when Phillips informed the officer his girlfriend was sick and needed an ambulance. A Lafayette PD Internal Affairs investigation - not launched by Police Chief Jim Craft until two months later, Aug. 11 - led to a subsequent investigation by Louisiana State Police on Aug. 31. At that time, the case was also handed over to District Attorney Mike Harson for potential criminal prosecution.
The female witness was interviewed Sept. 3 by KLFY TV10's Chuck Huebner. In the exclusive TV interview, Debbie Richard confirmed that on June 11 Dartez turned down Phillips' request to help his girlfriend, Montie "Quinn" Martie, who died the following day. Though he had been fighting with her at their 202 Wilcox St. address on the afternoon of June 11, Phillips, 31, maintained in an interview with this newspaper that he tried to help Montie, whom he thought had slipped into a diabetic coma.
Read more about the stain on Dartez's three decades with the department in The Independent Weekly's Sept. 1 cover story, "Internal Affair?" Read more about Dartez's retirement and the implications of the controversy in tomorrow's print edition.