DOCUMENT: Crime

Man Attacked Girlfriend Over Halloween Outfit

Cops: Assault was prompted by French maid costume

French Maid

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French Maid Fight

NOVEMBER 4--Angered that his girlfriend had dressed as a sexy French maid for Halloween, a Pennsylvania man allegedly stripped the costume off the woman and assaulted her, according to a criminal complaint.

Police report that John Chapman, 48, and Jennifer O’Gallagher had been drinking for a couple of hours Friday in their Nanticoke home before “getting their Halloween costumes on so they could go out for the night.”

As the couple was getting dressed around 7 PM, O’Gallagher, 36, told police, Chapman “became upset and started to argue with her” when he spotted her French maid costume. As they quarreled, Chapman stripped the costume off O’Gallagher and bound her wrists and ankles together.

O’Gallagher alleged that Chapman “was laughing and taking pictures” and “choking and grabbing her” while she was bound. After Chapman left the apartment around 11:30 PM, O’Gallagher used a kitchen knife to free herself, cops reported.  O’Gallagher, however, did not call police.

When Chapman returned to the residence four hours later, he sought to enter the apartment, but O’Gallagher “would tell him each time to go away he drunk and not coming in.” Chapman (pictured above) subsequently broke a bedroom window to gain entry to the apartment.

The ensuing commotion caused a neighbor to dial 911. Chapman told a responding officer that his girlfriend “is flipping out and he was trying to stop her.” A crying O’Gallagher said, “Thank God the police are here.”

Chapman was arrested for simple assault and unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors, and harassment. He was booked into the Luzerne County jail, where he remains locked up in lieu of $20,000 bail. Chapman’s lengthy rap sheet includes prior busts for aggravated assault, indecent exposure, public drunkenness, fighting, reckless endangerment, and disorderly conduct. (3 pages)