Former California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis charged with domestic violence against wife

Jerry Lewis, the former congressman from Redlands, has been charged with felony spousal abuse after an alleged domestic violence incident involving his wife.

On Nov. 15 at around 12:45 p.m., Redlands police were called to a report of domestic violence at a home at Crown Street and Sunset Drive, said city and police spokesman Carl Baker.

Though he would not give details about what happened or who was involved to prompt the call to police, Baker confirmed the 86-year-old Lewis was arrested and taken to the Central Detention Center. Jail records show Lewis was arrested at a house on Sunset Drive. He later posted bail and was released.

“The victim did not require medical aid,” Baker said in an email.

Lewis was charged Nov. 19 and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 17, court records show.

On Wednesday afternoon, Lewis, contacted at that Sunset Drive house, had little to say as he left, accompanied by his wife, Arlene.

“My bride and I are going out to lunch,” he said as the pair got into their car. They were both smiling and did not appear to be at odds.

Previously, Arlene Lewis confirmed in a phone call with a reporter that she was considered in this case to be the victim “if you can call it that.”

Lewis, a Republican, left public office in December 2012 after 46 years in elected office and 33 years representing San Bernardino and Riverside counties in Congress. His wife Arlene served as his longtime chief of staff. It was later announced he would be a distinguished fellow for the University of Redlands.

From 2005 to 2007, Lewis headed the House Appropriations Committee. He steered enormous amounts of federal funding to favored projects through the use of earmarks, spending directives that were slipped into annual appropriations bills.

Lewis’ earmarks helped pay for the creation of a cancer research center at Loma Linda University Medical Center, the Seven Oaks Dam and a massive tree-clearing effort in the San Bernardino National Forest credited with reducing the region’s perennial wildfire danger.

The earmarks drew scrutiny, prompting a federal investigation that did not result in charges, and one blogger criticized Lewis as a “spend-aholic.”

In a 2012 speech to the Rotary Club of Redlands, Lewis defended the earmarks, saying that California taxpayers send more money to Washington and get less back than most other states.

“Our job was to tap as many of those dollars as possible for our taxpayers back home,” Lewis said.